Remnant's Maelstrom Shinobi
by MothBallz
Summary: "School that teaches kids how to fight and kill? Check. People with crazy powers? Check. Shady group of villains with some unknown goal? That's a check. Maybe this place isn't so different after all, eh Kurama?" Our favorite blonde Uzumaki comes to Remnant as a storm brews just beyond the horizon.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **so yea...this is gonna be a thing haha. I'm seriously in love with the RWBY series and when I said as much in another story the amount of messages I got from people asking me to do a crossover with Naruto was ridiculous. So here we are a few months later and I decided to give it a shot.

I know I have three fics doing pretty well right now and I know it's been a long while since I've updated them but fret not I am still working on them. The reason it's taking so long is due in part to my depressing amount of schoolwork (95% of which is friggin English) and because I've been trying to set the bar a little higher. As such I'm taking more time to actually work on the fics, revise, and all that good stuff.

Some of my loyal readers may be wondering about my DxD crossover and original Naruto fics...well the Naruto fic kind of just dropped off. I may pick it up again at some point. Not sure what I wanna do with it.

The DxD cross...ugh. I get a headache from just thinking about it. I have zero want to even look at that thing. Let's not even talk about it.

But! On to this story! This fic will feature a strong Naruto (not godlike but still damn strong) in the world of Remnant and the havoc that will follow our favorite blonde haired Maelstrom. As for things like how Naruto got there, why he is the way he is, and all that...well it'll be revealed through the story. I don't plan on doing what I did with my DxD crossover, far from it.

I will however say that he won't be COMPLETELY out of character. Just more...mature.

As is usual with my fics expect foul language, added realism, and all that other crap. Don't like it? Then you can fuck right off.

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor RWBY. They are owned by their respective owners.

Real quick I'd like to give a shout out to SilverFoxSage and their story The Vulpine Huntsman of Vale which is a great read and sparked the drive to do my own crossover. Go check it out!

* * *

The city of Vale. One of the four major cities of Remnant that stood as a symbol of mankind's perseverance and ingenuity. It, along with its sister cities, cast a light of hope into the hearts of people around the world, showing the world that no amount of Grimm or disaster could eliminate the human spirit so long as one light shone through the dark.

As a major capital Vale boasted one of the largest shopping districts as well as numerous smaller settlements that lay on the outskirts of the sprawling city. At the heart of Vale was the prestigious Beacon Academy.

It was here at Beacon that the defenders of Vale were trained to combat the forces of darkness. These defenders, normal men and women, who had chosen to dedicate their lives to keeping Vale and her citizens safe were called Huntsmen and Huntresses. Wielding their own unique weapon alongside their equally unique power known as Semblance these warriors were to be the first and last line of defense against those that would wish to harm the citizens of their city.

They were to be symbols unto themselves; symbols of strength, pride, and hope.

It was here at the entrance to Beacon Academy that we find a tall and well built teen admiring the massive structure that was the academy. The teen surveyed the building with blue eyes so intense that they seemed to be like twin pools of the ocean itself. Three marks that resembled whisker marks marked his tan face on each cheek. Blonde hair as gold as the sun fell in messy spikes around his head, the bangs falling across his forehead, further accentuating his electric blue eyes.

The blonde was garbed in clothing that seemed fitting of a warrior ready to march on to the battle lines. A plain black shirt with some sort of swirl in a burnt orange color on the chest clung to his top half. Over top the shirt was a black jacket with the same swirl on each shoulder. The top part of the shoulder was covered by some form of white armor. The back of the jacket as well as some parts of the front were dotted with the same pieces of white armor.

Covering his bottom half was a pair of plain grey pants. On his left thigh was a black pouch. Laying horizontally attached to his belt was a small and plain looking scroll. Covering his feet was a pair of black leather boots with the ends of his pants tucked into the ankle high footwear.

Standing at a solid six foot with a lithe build, the blonde would have struck an imposing figure if not for the twitching of his eye and the fluffy orange furred fox kit wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Remind me again why the hell I have to go to school...AGAIN Kurama?" The blonde asked aloud, voice dripping in annoyance.

Some would think the teen crazy for talking to himself however that was far from the case. The fox that lay around his neck stirred and allowed one of its closed eyelids to crack open revealing ruby red eyes. Shaking it's head in a very human show of exasperation a gruff male voice rang through the blonde's head, _"Because it seems to be both the easiest and best way to get a job and possibly some answers. Besides it should be easier since you have done this before. Also don't talk out loud you dumbass, people will think you're nuts."_

A sigh escaped the teen's lips before his head fell in resignation, _"But I hated school then and I doubt this will be any different from the Academy back in Konoha."_

_"That may well be true, but keep in mind that despite the situation not changing YOU have changed Naruto. And for kami's sake please don't act a fool. I think we've suffered one lifetime too many of that," _the voice replied back.

Stretching his limbs the now named Naruto sighed again and folded his arms behind his head, _"Wasn't exactly my decision. Not my fault those teachers were too bigoted to actually teach me properly."_

_"Fair point kit, but you also weren't exactly helping yourself by acting like an idiot either."_

_"Touché Kurama, touché."_

Before the mental conversation between the teen and fox could continue they were both startled by a sudden explosion only a few yards away from them. Both raised an eyebrow as they saw a girl about Naruto's age dressed in all white screaming and hollering at a younger girl in red.

Their eyebrows ascended even higher as a girl in black interfered on behalf of the girl in red. Naruto felt bad for the younger girl seeing the regally dressed girl in white stomp off with the girl in black quietly sauntering off, leaving the girl in red to fall to her knees in sadness.

Feeling sympathetic Naruto made his way over to the red themed girl who was muttering to herself about knees...which was rather odd. Not one too judge though Naruto lowered his hand into the girl's vision, offering to help her up.

The Red Riding Hood look alike turned curious gray eyes up to the owner of the hand and was slightly surprised to see a rather good looking blonde offering her help. She took the offered hand and was a little surprised when the teen pulled her to her feet with only a slight tug.

Naruto had to resist the urge to slap himself when he noted just how attractive the red haired girl was.

_"Seems that you inherited your father's love of red hair, ne?" _Kurama chuckled mentally.

Naruto just childishly glared at the cheeky fox.

Before he could come up with a rebuttal the girl whose hand he was still holding spoke up, "Uh...thanks for that...um..."

Realizing that the girl was asking for his name Naruto let go of her hand and grinned, "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

The girl's face lit up in a smile, "Nice to meet ya! I'm Ruby Rose."

The sound of Kurama's snickering echoed in Naruto's head causing his brow to twitch. Of course the fox would find her name amusing. Though even he had to admit that it was all pretty funny. Red cloak with red highlights? And her name was Ruby Rose? Yeah it seemed like her parents really wanted her to like the color red or liked the story of Little Red Riding Hood a little too much.

On the other hand he wasn't one to talk either. After all he had gone around in a bright orange jumpsuit for a few years and then spent another 3 or so years in a darker version of that same jumpsuit. Even now his love for the color orange was hard to repress, evident by the rather large swirl on his chest.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind along with the sounds of a still laughing Kitsune Naruto offered one of his patented foxy grins, "So I take it this is your first year here at Beacon?"

Ruby nervously chuckled, "That obvious huh?"

"No all the experienced Hunters and Huntresses are blowing themselves up with Dust," Naruto chuckled.

Childishly flailing her arms Ruby replied back, "But it wasn't my fault! I mean well I guess it kind of was, but still it was an accident and now because of that I won't have any friends and this is gonna be horrible and..."

Naruto could only barely resist the urge to laugh at the rambling girl. How she was able to talk so fast was a little mind boggling but he had seen stranger so he let her continue to vent out her frustrations.

A few minutes later a slightly winded Ruby blushed as she kicked at the ground, realizing that she had just spilled her guts to a guy she had met all of five minutes ago. The thought that he would be too weirded out with her to be her friend crossed her mind. Luckily before she could go on another worry induced ramble Naruto's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Better?"

"...little bit," Ruby admitted.

For a few seconds neither said anything, Naruto just standing there still grinning and Ruby still blushing in embarrassment. Then it broke. Laughter overtook the silence and filled the air, the two enjoying the oddness of the situation.

When they had regained their breath and were now just chuckling out the last of their laughs Ruby asked, "So you're a returning student here?"

Naruto flashed her a grin, "Nope!"

A sweat drop trailed down Ruby's head.

"Wait so you're a new student like me?"

"Yup!"

Ruby cried crocodile tears, "I was hoping you would be able to show me around!"

Naruto shrugged before folding his arms behind his head, "Well it can't be that hard to get around here...right?"

* * *

The gathering of incoming students to Beacon all raised an eyebrow together as a girl in red came soaring through the open doors of the hall like she had been shot out of a canon. Lucky for her she landed in the arms of a busty blonde haired teen who grinned at her like the situation was normal.

"Ruby!"

Realizing that she was currently in her sister's arms Ruby wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and cried in joy, "Yang! I'm so glad to see you!"

Before anyone could question why Ruby had come through the door via the air, their attention was drawn back to the entrance of the hall where a blur of yellow raced into the hall before quickly slamming the twin doors shut.

There leaning against the door, panting and out of breath, stood another blonde with a frightened look to him. Even weirder was that a small fox kit was mirroring the blonde, looking equally terrified.

Ruby hopped out of her sister's arms and rushed the panting blonde, clutching to his chest like he was her husband who had just come back from war.

"I thought I'd never see you again Naruto!"

Brows were raised even higher as Naruto wrapped his arms around the much smaller girl.

"Shh it's ok Ruby. That...thing will never hurt us again!"

Ruby looked up with a hopeful look shining in her gray eyes, "You killed it?"

Naruto looked away, "No. I was barely able to get away from it with my life."

Before the soap opera like situation could progress any further Yang shoved her way in between the two before asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Ok what the hell are you two talking about!? And how the heck do you know his guy Ruby!?"

Ruby just grinned and appeared by Naruto's side, "This is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto this is my sister Yang."

Naruto chuckled as he nervously waved at his fellow blonde who was inspecting him like a lioness would an unfamiliar creature. He had enough experience with busty blondes to know not to make them angry. That usually lead to a painful beating.

_'Jeez she's almost as big as Tsunade Baa-chan (Granny Tsunade) and she's like half her age!'_

Before Naruto could question what the girl was eating to grow such a...healthy body Kurama made himself known by hopping his way up to Naruto's shoulders where he wrapped himself around the blonde's neck.

_'Kit, kami must love you or something. I mean you've pretty much spent your whole life living every pervert's dream, surrounded by busty and hot females.'_

Naruto would have normally had a snarky comment to reply back with, but he could find none. The fox was right. His stalker since childhood, Hinata, had blossomed into a beautiful young woman with a pair that could give Tsunade a run for her money. Then there was Tsunade herself who boasted possibly the largest pair in all of the Elemental Nations. Both Anko and Kurenai were equally beautiful and as equally gifted in the chest area. Not to mention Shion the priestess who wanted him to father her children. Of course who could forget the Mizukage (Water Shadow), Mei Terumi, who had no shame in flirting with him whenever a chance arose.

Naruto didn't know whether to cry in frustration or joy. On one hand he had tried his hardest to not fall to the dark side and become a pervert like every male role model in his life, but it seemed Kami had other plans or just enjoyed tempting him.

Resigned to his fate Naruto just stuck out his hand in greeting, "Nice to meet you Yang."

Not even bothering to reply to the greeting the blonde did a total 180 and was instantly invading his personal space bubble and gushing over the cuteness of Kurama. The fox himself was enjoying the attention, only serving to boost his already massive ego.

"Um...I'd like it if you didn't do that. Stupid fox already has a big enough ego."

"How could such a cute little thing have an ego?" Yang cooed in a baby like voice while cradling Kurama in her arms.

The fox was more than enjoying the situation he had found himself in, _'Kit...I now understand why Jiraiya was a pervert.'_

Naruto could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration, though on the other hand looking at his fellow blonde he really couldn't blame the fox. Even he had to admit that the term "blonde bombshell" fit Yang almost to the letter and if the metallic bands on her wrist and the smell of gunpowder were anything to go by, the bombshell part may just be literal.

With the excitement over, the hall descended back into the chatter of friends and the group was left to their own devices without having to worry about having the whole freshman class' eyes on them. Of course both Yang and Naruto were the type of people who could care less what other people thought of them and Ruby wasn't focusing on the background people enough to care.

As the group of three (plus one fox) chatted and got to know each other, Yang found herself actually enjoying the company of her fellow blonde. Far too often would guys chase after her and her sister and spend that time simply ogling them like creeps. She knew her outfit didn't exactly help, but not only was it easy to move in it also gave her an advantage over those perverts who would stare at her chest in the middle of a battle.

Naruto was different and instead looked her straight in the eyes which, with his piercing blue eyes, unnerved her a little bit. It was like he could pierce straight through her without even trying. What made her a little more on edge was how comfortable she was with the guy.

Not even a few minutes with the blonde and she was joking with and teasing him, which she found incredibly fun to do because of how he reacted. Seeing the somewhat cocky blonde turn into a blushing stuttering mess was just hilarious. Sure she was known for teasing people, but to be this comfortable with someone so fast? It made her a little worried. You didn't see and do the things she had by trusting everyone you met.

Before their little get together could continue a certain princess in white stomped her way to them and made her presence known by pointing her finger at Ruby whilst yelling, "You!"

Ruby reflexively jumped into her sister's arms and cried, "Oh god! She's back!"

The girl in white merely continued on her rant, "You're lucky you didn't blow us right off the cliff!"

Yang looked at her sister who was still in her arms in surprise, "Oh god you really did explode."

"I told you it was an accident!" Ruby exclaimed in an attempt to defend herself.

"To be fair you were kinda shaking those vials of Dust around, so you are also to blame," Naruto butted in.

Ruby gave Naruto a grateful smile, while the princess gave him a dirty look he was all too familiar with.

_'Hey Kurama you think she's part Uchiha or something? I mean only an Uchiha can sneer like that.'_

_'You got a good point there kit. But Uchiha's are also known for the love of black sooo,' _Kurama said as he pointed out Weiss choice in clothing color.

"And just who the heck are you?"

Taking a page out of one his teacher's books Naruto gave the girl a lazy look and drawled out, "I'm sorry did you say something princess?"

While the girl was turning red from anger and not so silently fuming, both Yang and Ruby were just looking at the interaction between the two with barely surprised giggles.

"I said who the heck are you!?" The girl all but screamed.

Naruto just grinned lazily and somehow managed to smile with his eyes, "Isn't it polite to give your name before asking someone else's?"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Yang was on the floor rolling in laughter while Ruby was not fairing much better, hands on her knees as her shoulders shook from laughing. Even those within hearing distance of the group were either laughing or grinning when they saw how well the white themed girl seemed to be imitating a tomato.

_'Kit...you're evil...and I'm so proud!'_

Barely stopping herself from strangling the infuriating blonde in front of her she seethed out, "My name is Weiss Schnee."

Around them some jaws dropped hearing the name Schnee. Evidently Naruto knew the name as well because his own jaw dropped, "As in the Schnee Dust company!?"

The now named Weiss crossed her arms and gained back her arrogance, "That's right my father is the owner of the largest Dust company in all of Vale."

Naruto did a complete 180 and went back to his uncaring posture from before, "Wow then you really should've know better than to be shaking vials of Dust like a rattle."

Almost instantly the laughter came back even stronger than before as Yang gasped in an attempt to get some much need air into her lungs, Ruby equally out of breath. Weiss on the other hand let loose a scream of frustration and threw her arms in the air.

"UGH! YOU ARE SO INFURIATING!"

As Weiss stamped away in anger Naruto just chuckled as Yang leaned on him, still trying to regain her breath, "Foxy, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

As the crowd began to quiet down a man dressed in an all green suit with silver hair and glasses walked his way before the microphone, aided by a metallic walking cane of some sort. This was the head of Beacon Academy, Ozpin.

"I will...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people...but I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Without a word more Ozpin began to walk away, not even sparing a glance at the crowd of his newest students.

Equal amounts of shock, anger, and denial ran through the teens in the crowd after Ozpin's rather bleak speech. Yang huffed in anger at the man's words, while Ruby looked down in contemplation. Naruto merely stood there with his arms crossed.

_'Great, another Kakashi. Wonder if he has some porn stashed away like the scarecrow too,' _Naruto thought to himself.

A blonde haired woman wearing glasses and a cape of some sort strode up the microphone to take Ozpin's place, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

* * *

Sitting atop the windowsill with one leg dangling outside, Naruto allowed the crisp night air to brush against his face, his blonde locks rustling in the wind while his cerulean orbs stared at the moon that now hung in the starry night sky.

Going over today's events he had to chuckle at the parallels in this new life of his. Without even opening one of his eyes Kurama spoke through their mental connection, _'Parallels there may be, but remember kit, there will also be many differences. You can not allow your past to haunt you any longer, lest you become like that one eyed sensei of yours.'_

Naruto only offered a bittersweet smile as he absentmindedly allowed his fingers to softly stroke Kurama's fur. Looking back now it was funny how much things had changed. Almost a year or so ago and the fox that was curled up in his lap had wanted nothing more than to tear him to bloody bits and break out of the seal that kept him in Naruto. Now? Well Naruto had no idea how he would've survived this long without Kurama's help.

Than there was Naruto himself. Looking back he could've slapped himself. Admittedly he really hadn't changed all that much. He was still pretty hyper and knuckleheaded, but the difference now was that he had balanced out. Thanks to Kurama's help and his own determination he had been able to improve in almost every area by leaps and bounds.

Naruto was knocked out of his little reverie when he felt the presence of Ruby next to him, "Penny for your thoughts?"

The blonde turned and took in Ruby's pajamas with a smile. While in her normal clothes the girl looked ready to go into battle, or a Halloween party, however in her pink pajama bottoms and black tank top, Ruby actually looked her age.

Ruby also took in Naruto's own sleep wear with a minor blush. The white tank top with some sort of leaf like symbol that hung off his form allowed his well muscled arms to be seen quite easily. Likewise the navy blue gym shorts with that red swirl of his did a good job of showing off his equally well-toned legs.

Ruby had to blush as, with the moon in the background and blonde hair swaying gently in the breeze, Naruto looked quite attractive.

"Just thinking about home."

"Where are you from?" Ruby asked curiously. She admittedly didn't know much about her new blonde friend, which was something she wanted to remedy.

Naruto just turned his gaze back to the moon. He had spent enough time here on Remnant to have come up with a back story which was as close to the truth as he could get without having to tell everyone the compete truth.

"It was a village out in the middle of nowhere. It was my people's attempt at starting up another city like Vale. It had actually been around for awhile and thanks to the forests that surrounded it, it was named Konohagakure no Sato."

Before Ruby could question exactly what the name meant and what language it was in, a slightly surprised yet subdued voice made its way into their conversation.

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Both Naruto and Ruby turned their eyes to see the black haired girl who had helped out Ruby earlier in the day making her way to them, book in hand.

Naruto raised his brow and nodded, surprised that someone actually knew the language, "Yea that's spot on actually. I'm surprised someone even knows that language still."

The raven haired teen offered her brow raise, "Same can be said for you. For all intents and purposes it's a dead language."

Naruto just smiled, "My village actually preferred it, made names and stuff sound a lot cooler. By the way I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Blake. And your name...your parents really liked ramen huh?"

Naruto childishly pouted, "Damnit that's not what my name means!"

Ruby giggled at Naruto's pout before asking, "So what does it really mean then?"

The blonde just puffed out his chest and proudly declared, "Maelstrom."

Blake chose to interject, "So your full name means 'Maelstrom Spiral' then?"

Naruto just grinned cockily, "You got it!"

Yang suddenly appeared behind Naruto, scaring him enough to almost make him lose his balance and fall out the window. Thankfully she had also chosen to grab his whiskered cheeks and began tugging at them, "I don't know, I think I'll just stick with calling you Foxy."

With Yang still painfully tugging at his cheeks, Naruto began to cry dramatically, "Ruby help! Get your crazy sister off me!"

"Who you calling crazy Mr!?" Yang yelled as she began to tug at Naruto's cheeks even harder, laughing maniacally all the while.

Ruby began to laugh as she watched her sister torture their new friend, while even the normally cool Blake cracked a grin as she watched the two blondes interact.

"SAY IT! SAY UNCLE!"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

"YOU WANNA BET FOXY!?"

"OW OW OW OW! DAMNIT YANG THAT HURTS!"

"SAY IT!"

"NEVER!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Silence.

Ruby stared at the poor bastard who had told both Naruto and Yang to shut up with wide eyes. This was not gonna end well...for the guy at least. Quietly she wondered what kind of flowers he liked.

Both Naruto and Yang slowly turned their heads to face the brave (read: foolish) soul who would dare interrupt them.

For a moment both parties stared directly at each other, the nameless and random teen defiantly glaring straight back at the pair of blondes. However when Yang slowly stepped off of Naruto's back and cracked her knuckles, he began to sweat. When Naruto began to crack his neck, the glare dropped off his face.

With fearful eyes he watched as the blonde duo stalked their way over to the his place on the floor, people quickly clearing the way so as not to get in between the cold fury of Naruto and Yang and their prey.

That night screams of pain echoed throughout the school grounds for ten minutes straight before all was quiet.

* * *

"AH! Now that was a good night's sleep!" Yang declared as she stretched, drawing the eyes of every teen male in the room.

Naruto grinned as he stretched as well, "Couldn't agree more Yang! Slept like a log."

Ruby could only sweat drop upon seeing the devious grin the two shared. Maybe introducing them to each other was a bad idea.

Naruto collected his stuff before walking out of the hall, Yang, Ruby, and surprisingly Blake not too far behind.

As the group made their way to the locker rooms where their battle clothes and weapons were Naruto decided spark up a conversation, not one for silences, "So you guys ready for whatever our initiation is today?"

Ruby was bouncing around like a rabbit out of excitement in response, "Oh my gosh! Today's the day! We're gonna become Hunters and Huntresses! THIS IS SO EXCITING!"

Naruto chuckled at the girl's exuberance while Yang shook her head at her sister's hyperactiveness, "You bet your butt we are Foxy!" Winking at her fellow blonde she continued, "Just don't get left behind ok?"

Naruto laughed as petted a still sleeping Kurama, "Psh. Speak for yourself. I got this test in the bag, -ttebayo!"

Blake raised an eyebrow at the verbal tic before turning curious eyes at the fox kit wrapped around Naruto's neck. She had seen the fox before, but seeing as it had spent most of the time sleeping she had passed it off as nothing of importance. Now however, with them no doubt heading into combat, she raised a question, "Naruto, what about your pet? Is it a good idea to bring it along?"

The fox seemed to have heard her and in response opened its eyes before glaring at her and growling. While Kurama usually appeared to be sleeping he was always keeping his senses out, making sure to keep him and Naruto aware of anything and everything around them. As such he had heard Blake's question and was non too happy at being called a pet.

_'She better watch it! I am no pet! I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine Tailed Fox)! Strongest of the Bijuu (Tailed Beasts) and I could easily crush her underneath my paw!'_

Blake was mildly surprised to see twin crimson orbs bore into her own amber eyes, clearly expressing just how angry the fox was.

The blue eyed teen turned to face Blake, "Uh I'd apologize. Kurama here doesn't like to be called a pet."

Blake raised an eyebrow wondering just what kind of fox this Kurama was. She had never seen a fox or any animal with such unique red eyes, or even fur of that color. The fox also seemed to be extremely intelligent, having perfectly understood what she had said.

"Uh...sorry Kurama?"

The small fox looked to have actually scoffed, further surprising Blake and the others, before resuming his position as Naruto's scarf.

_'Stupid cats. Think they're so amazing,'_ Kurama huffed.

Naruto sweat dropped at his friend's comment, "Well that's probably as good as you're gonna get. He's pretty stubborn when he wants to be."

Blake decided to voice her question as she kept looking at Kurama in curiosity, "What kind of fox is he? He's pretty smart and doesn't look like any fox I've seen."

Naruto shrugged, "He was sort of an experiment my village was doing. They wanted to see how Aura affected animals and so as a small kit he was injected with doses of mine, which is why we're so close. That's also why I know he can take care of himself, he has his own Semblance."

Kurama mentally grinned, _'My, my kit that was a pretty good lie. Seems like you really are becoming a true shinobi.'_

Naruto just shrugged. Just because he kind of trusted Ruby, Yang, and Blake didn't mean he was gonna just spill his whole life story to them. He had been stabbed far too many times in the back to be that trusting anymore. Besides it wasn't like they'd believe him if he told them that Kurama was actually just a physical manifestation of energy that had been sealed inside of him by his parents and Death when he was only a few minutes old. Or that Kurama was actually several stories tall and so powerful that with just a flick of his tail he could crumble mountains.

Yeah he'd be locked up in the loony boon faster than his father's Hiraishin no jutsu (Flying Thunder God technique).

Both Yang and Ruby shrugged at Naruto's explanation, their family had a dog who also acted as a partner on some missions so Naruto having a fox who could do the same wasn't that weird to them.

As the group of four plus one fox finally reached the locker room they separated to head to their lockers and get changed. Naruto had the foresight to get dressed away from the girls, knowing what happened to guys who tried to peek on women who knew how to fight and had sharp pointy things on hand.

Finally dressed in his clothing and making sure that his punches were full of kunai and that he had his main weapon sealed into the scroll attached to his belt, Naruto began to make his way out of the locker rooms. On the way out he managed to catch the tail end of Weiss asking someone to be her partner for the exam.

Wondering who was apparently so good that the princess was asking them to be her partner Naruto peeked over and was shocked.

Standing there with a small smile on her beautifully unmarried face was a girl so beautiful he was his jaw had just hit the ground.

Noticing the dumb look on his container's face Kurama turned to look at the girl only to have his eyes but out, _'Kit, I know I'm always teasing you, but...damn! Now I see why your dad liked red-head so much!' _

And Kurama wasn't wrong. With hair as red as blood tied into a ponytail and garbed in bronze looking armor and a battle skirt with boots, the girl looked as dangerous as she was beautiful. Naruto was able to catch what Weiss said about the girl. Apparently she was so good that she was the undefeated champ of some tournament for three years and had even earned the moniker of "The Invincible Girl".

_'It's always the red heads,'_ Naruto lamented to himself.

Unfortunately for him Naruto knew very well just how he was around such women. Confident, strong, yet gentle and understanding. And the red hair? Yeah he'd be lucky if he could throw a kunai straight with her around. He really had inherited his father's love of red-heads.

Hoping that Kami was on his side and that he wouldn't have to be around her for too long for the sake of his dignity, Naruto made his way out to join Ruby and Yang.

Had he looked back once more he would have seen the red head ignore Weiss in favor of turning to look at his retreating form, _'Hmm it's that blonde guy. His name was Naruto I think. He's a little odd.' _Smiling to herself she recalled his entrance at the freshman speech, _'And funny too.'_

* * *

The current gathering of students consisting of a grinning Naruto, a hyperactive Ruby, a cocky Yang, calm Blake, haughty Weiss, an odd girl with short orange hair bugging a teen with long raven black hair, a serene red head, and both Ozpin and his assistant Glynda, stood at the edge of cliff, below which stretched miles upon miles of wild untamed forest.

Taking note that everyone who needed to be there was there, Ozpin began after taking a sip from his coffee cup, "For years you have trained to be warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda decided to step in and with some sort of tablet in hand continued for Ozpin, "Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the mention of teammates.

_'Jeez can this get anymore like Konoha?'_

Though he did have to wonder why Ruby looked so down while Yang was giving her an "I told you so" look.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," Ozpin lectured.

Ruby turned to give Naruto a hopeful look, silently asking him if he would be her partner. Naruto guessed that Yang was attempting to get her little sister to meet new people, but he could see that Ruby would be more than comfortable only having a small handful of people she could trust, a sentiment he shared with her. As such he just gave her a smile and shrugged, silently agreeing with her.

As if to shatter any of Ruby's hopes at being paired with someone she knew Ozpin continued with a small amount of pleasure in his voice, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Naruto had to withhold a laugh as he saw Ruby's world begin crumbling down around her. Off to the side the girl with orange hair happily turned to her friend, "See! I told you!"

Not wanting to be interrupted any further Ozpin continued his little speech, "After you've partnered up head to the north end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."

At hearing that a sudden grim look came across everyone's face. Our favorite blonde protagonist meanwhile had to resist the urge to sweat drop, _'Ok this is getting freaky now. I mean really? Another silver haired teacher preaching the need to walk into a test with the intent to kill.'_

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene," taking a sip of coffee Ozpin paused in his speech, allowing the weight of his words to really sink in. After a few seconds he continued, "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing and be graded appropriately. Any questions?"

The group nodded in the negative, everyone already clear on their instructions, simple as they were. Find a partner, get through the forest, grab a relic, and make it back to cliff, hopefully in one piece.

Ozpin nodded, seemingly satisfied with the determination each of his prospective students was showing in the face of the obstacle before them.

"Good. Now, take your positions."

Already having seen the silver launch pads beneath their feet, each student prepared themselves. The first to be launched into the air was the Schnee heiress who merely allowed herself to fly through the air with a bland look.

One by one each of the students was sent rocketing into the air by the pads beneath them. Soon only Yang, Ruby, and Naruto remained. Before Yang was launched into the air she winked at Naruto before pulling out a pair of sunglasses from...somewhere and with a whoop of joy she too was sent flying.

Ruby turned and offered a smirk at Naruto before she joined her sister and the others in the air. As the last one left to be launched Naruto looked at both Ozpin and Glynda before offering them a cocky smirk as he rotated his neck, cracking it in the process. He bowed to the two and was launched off into the sky like a bullet.

"YAHOO!"

Ozpin turned and regarded his long time friend and associate with a raised brow, "He was an...odd one."

Glynda frowned, clearly unhappy with how nonchalant Naruto had seemed, almost like life or death situations were nothing new to him. The other students had looked just as excited to prove themselves, but it was clear they were also weary of the danger that called the forest home.

The blonde did not. He had a look in his eye that she had only seen in veteran Hunters and Huntresses, the look of someone who had spilt blood and fought in battles their life on the line far too many times. It did not sit well with the strict woman and set her on edge.

Wondering just who the blonde was she instantly pulled up the video feed of him on her tablet and pulled up his record next to it.

* * *

Naruto laughed to himself as he saw several of the others already begin to descend back towards terra firma. However Naruto wasn't an adept user of Fuuton (Wind Release) for nothing. Calling forth only a small portion of his massive chakra reserves he allowed it to coat his form, creating a streamlined shield of wispy light green chakra. Now far more aerodynamic he pushed only a smaller portion into his feet, propelling him further and faster than the others.

Soon he was naught but a screaming blonde bullet tearing through the air like a knife through wet paper. As he passed the others who had been launched before him he could hear the gasps of shock and one girl in red as she attempted to copy him by using the recoil from her weapon only to slice through a bird in the process.

"BIRDY NO!"

Soon the others began to follow suit, using either their weapons or their Semblance to propel themselves even further into the Emerald Forest. However humans were not meant to fly and eventually gravity began to show itself, bringing them all back down to the earth.

Seeing that he was slowly making his way into the trees and wanting to avoid any injuries or broken limbs he reached into the pouch on his thigh and pulled out two kunai knives. Holding the ninja knives in a reverse grip he allowed his bubble of Wind Natured Chakra to pop, letting the winds slam into him, greatly slowing him down. With his speed slowed down the blonde was able to weave through several of the trees, each time he did so bringing down his speed even more. Eventually Naruto had slowed to a decent enough speed to be able to stab his kunai into a large tree trunk. Curving his legs inwards he swung his body around the tree, carving out a spiral into the trunk as he made his way to the forest floor.

When he was close enough to the ground that he wouldn't break a bone from a fall, he let go of the blades and performed a flip whilst tucking into a ball. As Naruto came even closer to the ground he unfurled himself and like a gymnast landed perfectly on his feet before bowing to the imaginary crowd.

_'I'll give it a 9 out of 10,'_ Kurama snickered.

Naruto blew a raspberry at his fox friend, insulted that he didn't get a perfect score.

The sound of the bushes rustling put him on high alert. Thinking that he was already going to be attacked by something that wanted him as dinner, he pulled out another kunai knife and with perfect aim tossed it into the bush with the precision and speed that came with his years of experience using the knives.

He was surprised though when, instead of the squelching sound of metal piercing flesh, he heard the metallic ring of steel meeting steel. As the victim of Naruto's paranoid attack emerged from the brush all he could do was face palm while Kurama was near gasping from laughter.

_'HAHAHAHA! Kami really loves to see you squirm kit!' _

Out from the brush emerged a smiling red haired beauty, round bronze shield and spear in hand.

Looking skyward Naruto began to curse out Kami, convinced she had either abandoned him or just enjoyed torturing him.

Resigned to his fate he offered a smile and hand, "Naruto Uzumaki."

The red head returned the smile before attaching her shield to her back and shaking Naruto's offered hand, "Pyrrha Nikos."

Naruto nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, an old nervous habit of his, "Guess that makes us partners huh? By the way sorry for almost...ya know stabbing you with one of my kunai."

Pyrrha simply offered a kind smile and laughed, "We are indeed and no harm done!" She looked at Naruto who seemed to be unarmed, outside of the the aforementioned kunai, "Do you not have your own weapon?"

Naruto grabbed the scroll that hung from his belt and twirled it on a finger, "I do, but I usually don't use it unless I need to. I can usually handle most opponents just using my...uh...Semblance and kunai."

As he stumbled on his words in the middle of the sentence he began to mentally curse himself, _'Always the damn red heads!'_

Luckily Pyhrra didn't show any signs of her being suspicious or even having caught him falling over his words and nodded her head, "So what is your Semblance then?"

Naruto just winked at the red head, some of his usual bravado making its way back to him, "That my partner is a secret. Though hopefully I won't have to use it anytime soon."

As he said that the sounds of twigs snapping caught both teens' attention and again Naruto began to curse Kami all over again.

Lumbering out of the trees was, unfortunately, not another of the people taking the initiation, but was instead the massive form of bear like beast. Instead of the usual brown fur though, this monster was covered in pitch black fur with a bone white mask covering its face while various pieces of what looked to be bone protruded out from random areas on its towering form.

This was a Creature of Grimm, an Ursa. Judging by its near 8 foot stature and plated form this was an older and more experienced Ursai, an Ursa Major to be exact.

As Naruto drew a pair of kunai and Pyrhha pulled her shield off her back, Naruto could only mutter a single sentence, "Well fuck you too then Kami."

* * *

**AN: **and done! Hate to leave you guys on a cliffhanger, but I figure that this is a good spot to stop.

For those who are wondering why Jaune isn't there...only room enough for one blonde dude, also Jaune irritates me greatly.

Now here's a couple things. As of right now, Naruto's weapon is still in thought process. I have a vague idea of what I want it to be and do. Still suggestions won't be turned down and will be taken into account.

An another note, the pairing. I don't know what I'm gonna do about the pairing, if I'm gonna make it just one pairing (Naruto and Pyhhra, or Naruto and Blake...maybe others) or the ever loved harem. If harem I'll probably go with the girls listed above, so team RWBY and Pyhrra. Again same with Naruto's weapon. Suggestions will not be turned down, but will be taken into consideration. I may do what I usually do and just stick a poll up on my profile for you guys to vote on. I'll go another chapter or 2 before deciding on what to do.

With that said don't flood the reviews or my pm inbox with just suggestions for the pairing. I appreciate the help in review numbers but I much more appreciate actual input on the story, even if it's a simple "Good job!" Or "liking the story so far!"

Flames will be copy and pasted into chats and texts to give me and my friends something to laugh at. You flame, just know that me and my friends will be laughing derisively at you.

On the other hand actual honest to goodness critiques are very much so welcome. Think there's something wrong with the story or my writing? Review or pm me with actual reasons, not just "You suck", you will be treated like a flamer and laughed at.

Also I know that here is still quite a lot that we don't know about Remnant and even the characters themselves. In most cases I'll leave it ambiguous enough so that I can still "fix" any mistakes or anything. However for things like the origin of Grimm I will be personally creating my own sort of mythos. Actually my theory on what Grimm are is probably gonna be in the next chapter so you'll get a taste of what I mean.

I would usually bug my friend Phoenix for some art, but she's rather busy so if anyone wants to do art or knows someone who's good at it, hit me up with a pm.

Go check out my profile for some cool links to stuff, leave a review, go read my other stories if you like, and all that other good stuff.

Until next chapter!

PEACE

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUT


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I gotta admit I'm pretty happy with the response to this fic! Almost 70 reviews on one chapter alone? That's pretty awesome. Especially since most of them were rather lengthy and detailed.

For some of the things that had been up in the air last chapter: You will see Naruto's weapon in action this chapter. It was interesting to fool around with and I had some great ideas thrown my way. In the end I went with what I went with haha.

Also fret not! I will NOT be following every episode of canon to the letter. Obviously I will for the first few chapters to get everything set up, but there will be plenty of deviations from canon and such.

Honestly the hardest part of this chapter was trying to come up with a team name that fit into the theme and pattern of the others. After like a half or or so on wiki and rearranging their letters, it came down to two and I had my friend help me choose which one was better, so thanks to her.

Some are curious to know whether this is a pre or post Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto and I'll say...it's a secret, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously though, the whole situation with Naruto and what lead to him being in Remnant and all of that will be revealed bit by bit. There will be hints thrown in here and there, but nothing concrete until I decide its a good time for it to come out.

I think there was like 2 or 3 who asked what was up with Naruto and Ruby's moment there and again that's something that will be revealed later. Nothing serious it'll just be fuel for comedy.

Regarding the Grimm:...read the story. Really a lot of the questions being asked were due to you all being impatient fucks...and that's ok haha! Lord knows I'm highly impatient myself.

Without blabbering your ears off anymore, FORWARD WE MARCH TO THE STORY!

* * *

The Creatures of Grimm, monstrous and beastly creatures whose sole reason for existence was to bring death to mankind. They did not hunger for meat, vegetation, or any other "normal" food source. In fact, when observed, it seemed like they did not need to eat or drink to survive like any other living creature on Remnant. However this did not mean that they lacked a desire to eat.

The one thing these creatures seemed to crave, to hunger for, was human flesh and blood.

No one on Remnant had any one hundred percent proven idea as to what Grimm were or even how they came to exist. Scientists were not able to properly observe Grimm due to how hard it was to keep even a young one in captivity. What made it even more difficult to study the Grimm was that, upon death, their bodies would fade from existence, leaving not even a hair to be examined.

The only concrete facts the people of Remnant knew regarding Grimm were thus: Grimm were drawn to dark emotions such as jealousy, hatred, and greed. The monsters had a fondness for human flesh and they were capable of learning from experience.

Naruto could add something else to that list though. His godfather and mentor, Jiraiya, had been a powerful man, known across the Elemental Countries for his prowess in the art of Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu (Sealing Arts). Jiraiya and his two teammates had earned themselves fame and infamy in their youth, becoming known as the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja).

Out of the various skills Jiraiya had passed down to his godson, chief among them was the skill that had earned the now deceased shinobi the title of Gama Sennin (Toad Sage). The skill was legendary even among Naruto's people and was known as Senjutsu (Sage Technique). The technique allowed the user to gather the very energy of Nature herself and blend it into their body, bolstering both their physical and mental prowess to otherwise unachievable heights.

As such the practitioners of Senjutsu were seen as Sages and even when they were not actively using Nature Chakra, even novice Sages were keenly aware of it and those who could use it. As such Naruto was thoroughly shocked when he noticed that the Creatures of Grimm were comprised almost entirely of Nature Chakra.

It answered a lot of the questions the people of Remnant had and explained a lot more as well. The reason the body of a Grimm faded upon death was because the Nature Chakra it was made up of was returning back to the planet or moving into the nearby plant and animal life. This was also the reason they showed such apathy to other animals and why they had such a hunger for humans.

Suffice it to say that mankind had somehow screwed up so badly in the past that Mother Nature had felt the need to fight back by giving birth to these monsters.

Being a Sage and, by proxy, being so in tune with the planet Naruto always felt a little bad when he had to kill Grimm. Sure they seemed mindless and all, but really they were just Nature's anger at what humans had done to her planet.

His only solace was knowing that, by killing Grimm, the plant life around them would grow all the more resilient and lively.

So it was with a mental sigh that Naruto lodged a kunai knife into the jugular of the rather large Ursai that had attempted to have him and Pyrrha for dinner. In all honesty the fight had been terribly one sided. He was a well trained shinobi with his fair share of experience and it seemed that Pyrrha's title of "The Invincible Girl" was well earned. Combined, the two had taken the large bear like Grimm down in record time.

Naruto was also quite surprised to get a peek at Pyrrha's battle prowess. She seemed to flow like water, changing between attacking and defending with ease while still managing to dish out her fair share of blows. That fluidity also translated seamlessly into how she handled her weapon. The ease with which she transitioned her weapon from javelin, to sword, to rifle, and back again was only achievable through years of practice and dedication, though inborn talent also seemed to play a part.

Stretching a bit Naruto shared a smile with Pyrrha before gesturing in the direction they had originally been sent, "Shall we?"

The redhead nodded, "Sure. Hopefully we won't run into too much opposition though."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The less he had to reveal in combat the better. He did not need people asking questions and if what Ozpin said about the teachers monitoring their progress was true, he should be all the more cautious. Passing off some of his ninjutsu as his Semblance with the other teens was easy enough. Getting someone like Ozpin to believe it? That would be a much harder task.

As he and his new partner made their way through the Emerald Forest Pyrrha was the one to strike up a conversation, "I don't remember seeing you at Sanctum, so did you go to Signal?"

"Actually Beacon would be my first official school I'm attending. We had an Academy back in my old village that trained us as well, but it wasn't reputable enough to count so I had to take the battle exam to get into Beacon," Naruto replied.

Pyrrha smiled at the chance to get to know her partner a little more, "Where are you from?"

"It was outside of the kingdoms and was built decades ago by my village's first leader, a man named Hashirama Senju. Because of all the trees that surrounded our village and acted as a natural defense it was called Konohagakure no Sato or the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

The green eyed Huntress in training listened attentively as Naruto spoke with an obvious fondness of his home. Yet still she noticed the bittersweet look in his eyes, almost as if his home held as many bad memories as it did good ones.

"It sounds like you really loved your village," Pyrrha said with a smile.

Naruto nodded his head and let a sad chuckle escape his lips, "It's funny really. When I was younger I used to run around screaming that I was going to become my village's leader someday."

The armor clad redhead giggled at the mental picture of a short blond kid going around yelling that he was the greatest.

"That's still possible. After you graduate from Beacon you can still go back home and become your village's leader right?" Pyrrha offered.

Naruto shook his head, "Sadly that's no longer a possibility. Bout a year or so ago Konoha was attacked by...a horde of Grimm. We tried our best to fight back, but in the end there were too many and we were being overrun. The elders knew this and so they made a call to have anyone under 15 flee the village so they could live. I tried to stay and fight but my old sensei wouldn't let me and, using his Semblance, had me transported far away," Naruto paused to clear the lump in his throat before continuing, "by the time I managed to make my way back to the village it was too late. Konoha was burning and there was no one left alive."

As Naruto had begun his little tale the two had gradually slowed down until eventually, as his story ended, they had come to a full stop. As Naruto held back the very real tears that threatened to fall, Kurama tightened his hold on his container, offering only his presence as a comfort knowing full well that despite what Naruto had said being a partial lie, a chunk of it was also very much so true.

Pyrrha herself was holding back tears. For someone, anyone, to go through that was heart wrenching. Losing your home, your family, your friends, your people all in a single day? It was something she wouldn't wish on anybody. The worst part was then having to watch, helplessly, as it all went up in flames.

While Naruto attempted to recompose himself he was wondering just what in the hell had made him tell Pyrrha all of that. Granted it wasn't the whole truth, it was still close enough to stir up the memories of what had really happened to leave him here on Remnant. Why had he felt comfortable enough with Pyrrha to tell her that? With him sharing this story with her, Pyrrha now knew more about Naruto than anyone else on Remnant.

And oddly enough...he was ok with that. It felt good to get that off his chest. Given he had spent quite a length of time talking about it with Kurama, but that was somehow different. Telling Pyrrha even a fraction of the truth lifted a weight off the blond's shoulders and Kurama seemed to be ok with Naruto's actions, which was a sure sign that Pyrrha was a good person, given that the Kitsune had a general dislike for all of mankind with only a small handful of exceptions.

Feeling Pyrrha's gentle hand on his shoulder he turned and offered the redhead a true smile, "Sorry about dumping all of that on you. Kinda all just came out at once."

Pyrrha just shook her head with her own genuine smile, "It's fine. I can't really blame you as that must have been a difficult part of your life. But now that we're partners know that I'm here for you whenever you need it."

Nodding at each other the two continued on their way through the Emerald Forest, the blond feeling lighter in a manner of speaking while the redhead felt happy knowing that her partner trusted her enough to reveal such an intimate part of his past.

* * *

Miles away atop the cliff that the teens had been launched from, a very irritated Glynda Goodwitch poured over the mysterious blond's records, at least what they had on him which was all but nonexistent. Before taking the battle exam to gain entrance to Beacon they had nothing. For all intents and purposes the blond may just have dropped out of the sky, or simply come into existence and they would know no better. The cheerful blond was an enigma and that aggravated Glynda to no end.

Glynda was a woman who prided herself on being able to pick up on even the smallest of hints that allowed her to judge anyone rather accurately. She was equally proud to call herself intelligent and yet this blond teen was pushing the limits of that.

He jumped so erratically between being a normal teen boy, a seemingly veteran warrior, and a man haunted by his past mistakes so quickly that it was hard to asses just who he really was. It both confounded her and caused her no minor amount of irritation.

Ozpin meanwhile stood there as an exact counterpart to the frustrated blonde woman, calmly sipping his coffee as he gazed out at the vast stretch of forest below. There was no denying it. Naruto Uzumaki was an enigma. However Ozpin knew that Naruto was also aware of this and there would be no strides made in unraveling said enigma without the blond's permission.

For now all anyone could do was wait. In time the blond would grow to trust some and only then would they be able to find the answers to the many questions that surrounded one Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

"Do you really think the relics would be in a cave?" Pyrrha asked her blond companion.

The two had stumbled upon a rather large cave opening and were now debating on if the initiation would have them go on a spelunking trip to retrieve the relics.

Naruto shrugged before reaching up and tearing a sizable branch off of a nearby tree. Reaching into his jacket the blond pulled out what appeared to medical bandages and proceeded to wrap the bindings around the top of the branch. To Pyrrha's surprise the small fox kit who had seen sleeping cracked open a single eye before bringing its tail to the top of the makeshift torch. With not even a grunt of effort a small red flame flickered to life on the tip of the fox's tail before leaping to the torch, igniting it, and providing them a much needed source of light.

Now that Pyrrha was focusing intently on the fox wrapped around Naruto's neck she began to take notice of its unique features. Where other foxes where a variety of colors, Naruto's fox was a color she had never seen before. Its fur was a burnt orange color bordering on a dark red. Even the fox's tail was unique as, instead of the normal short yet fluffy tail most fox were known for, this fox's tail was quite long, long enough to easily wrap around Naruto's neck and drop down to his chest somewhat. Then there was its face. Stretching from the area surrounding its eyes and reaching up to its ears was a patch of black fur, which was also seen outlining its lips. It also had a rather long and skinny body that gave it an almost human like appearance. Then there were the eyes. A crimson so vibrant and like blood that it put her own red tresses to shame.

All in all Naruto's fox was different and seemed to even be able to understand human speech and conjure flames on a whim.

"What kind of fox is that Naruto?" Pyrrha asked, the curiosity nagging at her.

Kurama turned and regarded the teen, burning crimson eyes staring at her with such intensity that it felt like the fox was peering through her, judging her very being. It left Pyrrha feeling uncomfortable. Seemingly satisfied with its judgement of her the fox let its head fall and its eyes close, apparently going back to its napping.

Naruto spoke up, returning her attention back to the blond as he motioned for her to follow him into the cave, "He's not so much a fox as he is a Kitsune, a branch of the fox family though far more intelligent and powerful, something he likes to brag about."

Pyrrha just nodded her head at the vague reply, understanding that Naruto still had some secrets to keep. She didn't mind and was more than happy to wait and let Naruto tell her when he was ready. As it was he had already told her about a rather significant part of his past.

As the two ventured even deeper into the cave, they both began to grow anxious, neither liking the dark enclosed space. As they trudged on and on, there was an odd sense that they shouldn't be there, a foreboding feeling that seemed to whisper into their ear to leave and go no further.

"Uh Naruto, are you sure the relics are in here?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Right now? Not really," Naruto admitted with a chuckle.

Deciding to cut their losses the pair turned around and began to make their way back out of the cave. However both paused in their steps upon hearing...something moving just behind them.

_'Kit...you need to go...NOW!'_

Without even a second thought Naruto tossed the torch to the ground and picked up Pyrrha bridal style before pushing chakra into his legs and powering forward in a dead sprint. Pyrrha didn't even bother to ask what was going on, having seen five pairs of burning red eyes peering at her and Naruto through the darkness. Instead of playing the damsel in distress, Pyrrha pulled out her spear and shifted it into its rifle form before firing off a full clip at whatever was chasing them.

Clearly whatever it was had thick armor as she could hear the bullets bouncing off of what she suspected to be a large Grimm.

Not one to be so easily stumped in battle Pyrrha reached down to her belt before pulling out a different clip, this one full of rounds imbued with Fire Dust, giving them that much more kick. Quickly swiveling her body, the redhead looked down her sights as she fired over Naruto's shoulder. This time the bullets seemed to pierce the Grimm's armor just enough to cause it to slow down. None too soon either as Naruto sped through the cave entrance, bringing them back into the bright light of day.

Only seconds after, the cliff the cave had lead into erupted into a shower of rumble as a massive scorpion like Grimm burst through the opening, letting out a screech of hunger and power.

With acidic stinger and pincers poised to tear them to shreds Naruto and Pyrrha shared a look before nodding. Turning on their heels the pair began to book it as fast as they could, intent on putting space between them and the massive Death Stalker Grimm that would like to have them for lunch.

_'Why does everything I do have to end up going horribly wrong?' _Naruto lamented.

* * *

Meanwhile a certain busty blonde and her raven haired partner managed to stumble on what looked to be the remains of a long since abandoned temple. The only standing part of the ruin was a circular platform upon which stood various stone pedestals. On those pedestals were what looked to be chess pieces of some kind.

Yang turned to her silent partner and asked, "Think this is it?"

Blake just gave the blonde a deadpan stare before making her way to the stone ruins. Yang shrugged before following.

As the pair inspected the ruins and what they assumed to be the relics Blake spoke, "Chess pieces?"

"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well I guess we should pick one," Blake replied in an unsure tone. When Ozpin had said relics they had assumed it would be some ancient and valuable artifact, not chess pieces.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang cheered.

Blake rolled her eyes, but it was easy to see the amusement on her face, "Sure."

"Well that wasn't too hard!"

The raven haired teen shrugged, "Well it's not like this place is difficult to find."

* * *

Still running for their life, Pyrrha and Naruto sneezed in sync. Despite the massive Grimm only yards behind them, the pair looked at each other before shrugging at the odd coincidence.

"Duck!" Pyrrha called out as the Death Stalker attempted to skewer Naruto with its stinger.

The blond reacted quickly, curling himself into a ball and rolling to avoid the no doubt toxic point of death.

Pyrrha tossed her shield like a frisbee, hoping to cause some damage only for the scorpion on steroids to easily smack it aside with a pincer. Naruto quickly ducked and weaved through the pincers and grabbed the fallen shield before performing a short flip into the air. Just in the nick of time as well, seeing as the scorpion like Grimm had attempted to catch him in one of its pincers.

Naruto fell quickly back down and used the pincer as a springboard, shooting off into the air to catch up with his teammate. Landing with a roll, Naruto was quick to recover and popped up running alongside his red haired partner. The two resumed their little "run from the scary thing that wants to kill us" exercise, Naruto handing Pyrrha back her shield as they ran for all they were worth.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Yang asked, worry evident in her words.

Blake just nodded, an equally worried look on her face. Within the span of a few seconds the sounds of fights were erupting from everywhere in the forest. Of course Yang was more worried about her sister than anyone else. Just as Yang was preparing to go out and look for her sister, the two heard a scream coming from close by. Looking up both Blake and Yang's eyes widened when they saw a panicked Ruby falling from the sky, headed straight towards them.

"HEADS UP!"

For the second time in two days Ruby found herself falling into the arms of her shocked sister.

Their attention was diverted elsewhere, when a rather large Ursai Grimm waltzed out of the tree lines, roaring in what seemed to be anger. Before the bear like Grimm could proceed any further there was flash of pink and a childlike exclamation of, "YEE HAW!"

Rolling from the now more than likely dead Ursai's back was a pouting Nora Valkyrie, "Aww, it's broken."

Her partner and friend, Lie Ren, clambered over the fallen form of the Grimm, panting and looking quite exhausted.

"Nora...don't...ever do that again," the raven haired teen said in between gasps for air.

Looking up he realized that he was only talking to himself and that Nora had made her way to the ruins, clearly entertained by the shiny golden chess pieces. Grabbing a rook she began to dance around proclaiming, "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"

Tired and frustrated by the day's events Ren barked out, "Nora!"

The eccentric orange haired girl immediately stopped her dance, the rook planted precariously on her head, and saluted her friend, "Coming Ren!"

Stunned, Blake was the one to voice the question on everyone's mind, "Did that girl just ride in on in Ursa?"

Both Yang and Ruby, who was still in her sister's arms, continued to gape at the very odd girl, "Uhhhh..."

Before any other questions could be asked, their attention was turned to the tree line where a running Naruto and Pyrrha emerged. Following shortly behind them was a massive Death Stalker who looked intent on having the pair for lunch, tearing up trees as it did so.

Again Blake was the one to address the obvious, "Did they seriously run all the way here with a Death Stalker on their tail?"

Obviously at her wits end with all the odd occurrences happening Yang exploded...literally, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!?"

As Yang seethed in frustration, Blake calmly stood there with her arms crossed. Ren finally caught up to the group, still slightly out of breath while Nora acted like everything was normal and stood there fidgeting. Ruby was staring at the sky with a worried look before she tugged on her sister's sleeve like a small child, "Um...Yang."

Yang let her head fall in frustration, not even wanting to know what else was going to happen. Still she and the others looked up only to be shocked yet again.

There was Weiss Schnee...flying...by hanging onto the talon of a Nevermore...a very large Nevermore.

"How could you leave me!?" The Schnee heiress managed to cry over the howling winds.

Ruby shrugged, "I said jump!"

Blake decided to chime in with her usual monotone, "She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fiiinnne," Ruby waved.

Joining the conversation Ren stated the obvious, "She's falling."

Meanwhile the still running Naruto and Pyrrha peered up at the sky seeing the falling Weiss.

Internally Naruto sighed, _'Damn my hero complex.'_

Putting on the brakes, Naruto came to a sudden halt and turned to face the rampaging Death Stalker. Pyrrha came to a stop a few yards after Naruto had and shouted out the blond in worry, "Naruto! What are you doing!?"

Naruto sheepishly grinned before turning to the oncoming Grimm with a serious look to his whiskered face. The teen crouched low, preparing for something, what exactly that was no one knew. The blond tended to do the unexpected it seemed. This was further proven by Naruto's next move.

As the Death Stalker was only feet away from Naruto, the teen leapt up, landing directly on the white armor like plating of the massive Grimm. Naruto didn't stop there however, and began to sprint across the Grimm's back. In seconds flat Naruto had covered the entirety of the scorpion like Grimm's back and was running up its outstretched tail. Reaching the tip, Naruto crouched before launching himself through the air.

Using a small amount of Wind Chakra Naruto pushed himself forward, just in time to catch Weiss in his arms.

"Fancy meeting you here Princess," was Naruto's cheeky comment.

Weiss huffed in annoyance, "Not that I'm ungrateful but what now? We're both falling to the ground in case you didn't notice."

Naruto took on a pensive look before shrugging casually, as if falling from a hundred or so feet wasn't anything to worry about.

Weiss face palmed and angrily muttered to herself, "Ugh. Boys."

Without even batting an eye the Schnee heiress reached to her side and pulled out the silver rapier sheathed at her side. Pointing it below them she called upon her Semblance, creating a complex set of what looked to be runes below them. Naruto looked at the glyphs with a critical eye.

The Uzumaki clan was known for two things: their incredible longevity and their innate prowess in the art of Fuinjutsu. Their longevity allowed them to survive what most would consider mortal wounds and continue fighting. The Uzumaki talent for the Sealing Arts helped them earn infamy as one of the most powerful clans and villages around. They were so feared that during a previous war it had taken the power of three of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to take them down and even then the villages only succeeded in forcing the Uzumaki clan to spread across the different countries.

Naruto's father, while not of the Uzumaki clan, was also a powerful and knowledgeable user of Fuinjutsu. The man's genius had allowed him to perfect the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), a jutsu that allowed the user to bend space and time so they could teleport instantaneously. With the technique Naruto's father had slaughtered a whole battalion of enemy shinobi in seconds flat. It was then that he had earned his title as the Konoha no Kiiroi Senko (Yellow Flash of Konoha).

As the son to an Uzumaki and the Yellow Flash Naruto had inherited his parents' proclivity to seals and the runes Weiss had just called upon with a whim absolutely fascinated him. Had the Uzumakis been able to write their seals on thin air they would have been that much more powerful, and probably been able to fight back the forces that had destroyed their home.

Considering that despite Weiss taking care of the current situation, there was still a pissed off Nevermore and Death Stalker to deal with, Naruto decided to push his fascination with Weiss' Semblance to the back of his mind.

Landing on the very solid rune formation, Naruto waited to see if Weiss was going to continue to help considering they were still quite high in the air. Again Weiss huffed before creating several of the rune platforms, all of which descended in a manner that made them resemble a staircase. Naruto shrugged and proceeded to hop his way down using the Aura created platforms.

As they touched back down on solid ground and Naruto placed the white haired teen on her feet he began to have flashbacks to a certain pink haired teammate of his as Weiss chewed him out.

"Some hero you are! I may as well have saved myself!"

"...well why didn't you?"

Weiss sputtered to come up with a rebuttal and when none came she resorted to her go to maneuver...of huffing and pouting.

_'I swear she's like Sasuke and Sakura rolled into one...except in white,' _Naruto quipped.

Kurama was more than happy to throw in his own two cents, _'Just be happy we don't have to deal with her. Kami knows I would end up either murdering her or myself...probably the former. In fact...'_

_'No Kurama we are not murdering Weiss. Remember she's the heiress to a wealthy and powerful family?'_

_'And you're a shinobi. You were trained for these kinds of missions!'_

_'Ok look we have a giant ass scorpion and __an__ even bigger bird to deal with right now, not the time to be discussing the assassination of an heiress.'_

_'You say that like these pests actually pose a problem. You and I both know that even the old dumbass you could handle these things with little__ difficulty__.'_

_'Yea well I don't exactly want to just toss out a few jutsu and have people asking questions, not right now at least.'_

Kurama grinned in satisfaction at his container's answer, _'My my kit you really are my Jinchuuriki _(Power of the Human Sacrifice)_.'_

Naruto chose to ignore the comment, already knowing what the fox meant by that. As he became more of a shinobi, he also became more like a fox, becoming trickier and more cunning. Funny how in the Shinobi era he had been anything but. Now during this time of Hunters and Huntresses he was becoming more like a true shinobi.

Shaking those thoughts off Naruto felt Pyrrha next to him, panting a bit with a slight sheen of sweat covering her, no doubt from the little marathon run they had been motivated to take part in.

At seeing Pyrrha's appearance Yang chose to sarcastically cheer, "Great the gang's all here! Now we can all die together."

Ruby piped up, intent on proving to everyone there that she was just as capable of a warrior as any of them, "Not if I can help it."

Before anyone could stop the young teen, Ruby was off in a dead sprint, charging towards the oncoming Death Stalker with her massive scythe trailing behind her and cloak fluttering in the wind.

Obviously worried for her sister Yang called out, "Ruby! Wait!"

Naruto meanwhile could only sigh and facepalm, _'Kami damnit.'_

With a cheeky grin on his face Kurama piped in, _'Remind you of anyone?'_

Naruto only responded with a glare, _'Not. A. Word.' _

Kurama said nothing more with only the sounds of his booming laughter echoing through Naruto's head as his response.

Sighing Naruto prepared himself for the more than likely inevitable rescuing he would have to do...again. It wasn't that he thought Ruby was weak, far from it after all she wielded that bigass scythe of hers like it was a feather. However she wasn't exactly thinking straight right now. Running towards a massive Grimm screaming bloody murder wasn't the brightest of ideas, no matter how skilled you were.

He and the others winced in sync as they saw Ruby power herself forward with the help of the recoil from the gun portion of her scythe...gun...thing. Even still she was too slow as the Death Stalker was able to smack her aside like she was nothing but an annoying fly.

Struggling to stand, no doubt dazed from the blow, Ruby yelled out in a strained voice, "D-don't worry! To-totally fine!"

Turning around Ruby realized far too late that the Grimm had taken the opportunity to close the distance between them, now staring at her hungrily. Panicking she fired off a shot at its face, serving only to irritate it, and turned and began to run as fast her legs could carry her.

Yang saw the obvious danger her sister was in and began to sprint her way to Ruby. Luck wasn't with them as it seemed the Nevermore had decided to help its fellow Grimm and circled around. With a mighty flap of its wings it unleashed a rain of its own feathers, the points of which were as sharp as any blade. Like gunfire they rained down onto the ground, embedding themselves deep into the earth. Murphy's Law decided to rear its head and one of the feathers managed to catch up to Ruby and run straight through her cloak, pinning her to the ground.

Several more of the feathers managed to find their way to Yang, causing her to stumble so that she could avoid being skewered to death. Racing to her feet she saw Ruby frantically tugging at her pinned cloak in an attempt to free herself.

"Ruby! Get out of there!"

A very much so panicking Ruby answered back, "I'm trying!"

Turning to look upwards as a shadow covered her, the red haired teen turned wide grey eyes to see the Death Stalker prepping its massive stinger, aimed straight at her. Clenching her eyes, the young teen prepared for the worse.

Seconds ticked by and when there was no pain she wearily opened her eyes to see a wall of ice holding the stinger of the Death Stalker back. The voice of Weiss came up as the Grimm struggled to free its tail, "Ugh, you are so childish!"

"Weiss?"

Standing from her crouched position Weiss only continued on her mini rant, "And dim witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. Though I...suppose...I can be a bit...difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together."

Sighing in what appeared to be mock frustration the white haired teen continued, "So if you quit trying to show off I'll be...nicer."

Ruby shook her head, "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine."

As Weiss waltzed off Ruby let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, "Normal knees."

As Yang raced to crush her sister to death in a hug, Naruto smiled, _'Hmm. Guess __Princess __isn't as bad as we thought.'_

Once the teens had all regrouped Naruto decided to voice the obvious, "I doubt Princess' ice prison is gonna hold that thing for long and we also have a rather angry Nevermore circling back around."

For once Weiss was the one to voice her opinion, "Look there's no sense in dilly dallying, our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby chimed in with her agreement, "She's right, our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement with the pair's assessment while Yang looked at her sister with noticeable pride.

Naruto shrugged, "So tactical retreat then?"

With a round of nods, those who hadn't already retrieved an artifact made their way up to the platform. Naruto observed the options before noticing that there seemed to be doubles of each piece.

_'Why would they do that? Sure doubles of a piece, but to have two in the same color? Unless that whole partner speech was only half the truth and they plan on putting two pairs together to form a full team. Man this is like Kakashi's bell test all over again.'_

Shrugging and decided to let the pieces fall where they would, Naruto grabbed a golden rook piece while he saw Ruby grab a golden knight piece. He offered a smile and thumbs up, silently praising her on her plan. Ruby giggled at Naruto's cheesy gesture before smiling back. The two walked back to their partners and their group just in time to see the Death Stalker beginning to crack its icy prison.

As it freed its stinger and shattered the ice that had held Naruto turned to the group, "And that would be our cue to get the hell out of here!"

The others nodded with him, turned, and began to book it back towards the cliffs. As they ran the sun was eclipsed by the massive shadow of the Nevermore flying above them. Spotting even more ruins ahead of them the group attempted to take cover as even more of the Grimm's feathers hailed down. Flying ahead the Grimm perched itself at the top of what remained of a stone tower, blocking them from reaching the cliffs that lay just beyond it.

To make matters worse the Death Stalker decided to make its appearance, pinning the group between it and the waiting Nevermore.

Mentally cursing Naruto reached for the scroll at his side. As he unfurled it he and the others had decided they had a better chance of making it around the Nevermore than they did staying and trying to fight both it and the Death Stalker. Biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood, getting curious looks from the others as he did so, the blond ran his bloody digit across the scroll. What followed was a poof of smoke that obscured Naruto from everyone's vision.

Swiping a hand the through the air, Naruto cleared enough of the smoke to reveal that he was now holding what they assumed to be his weapon. Gripped tightly in his hands as he stared the Death Stalker down was a shakujo, or monk's staff, that was easily a few inches taller than him. The metallic pole was a deep ebony black, seeming to absorb the very light around it. The ring that sat atop of the staff was a burnt orange color, matching the color of Kurama's fur almost exactly. Running vertically through the ring was a simple bar covered in black leather. Stitched into the leather were etchings of six magatama, comma shaped symbols. Instead of the usual rings that dangled from the main ring, Naruto's shakujo had nine short lengths of chain hanging from it.

With his back turned to them the blonde called out, "You guys go and get to the cliffs! Me and Kurama will hold off this overgrown bug!"

As if to show them he was more than capable of holding the two Grimm off Naruto spun the staff around and to their slight shock flames began to dance on the chain links. Sweeping it through the air in front of him Naruto unleashed a ball of flames aimed straight at the Death Stalker.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball technique)!"

The Grimm, unable to move its lumbering body fast enough, took the brunt of the inferno directly to its face. The group heard a screech of pain come from the Grimm, but we're none too surprised to see it come out with only a few scorch marks on its armor. To Naruto's surprise Pyrrha appeared at his side, taking a knee, and aiming down her sights at the Grimm before unloading on it.

"We're partners, so that means we stick together," was Pyrrha's reply to Naruto's unspoken question.

Yang grinned and with a flick of her arms, the yellow bracelets on her wrists extended, covering her hands and extending a few inches past her wrists. Ruby unclasped her weapon and with a quick spin it was in its scythe form. Nora giggled and twirled her own weapon around, revealing it to be a massive war hammer. Both Weiss and Ren sighed before simply pulling out their own weapons and taking a ready stance.

"Guess we make a stand here huh, Foxy?" Yang quipped as the Nevermore circled above them like a vulture.

Naruto grinned right back at his fellow blonde, "Looks like it Firecracker."

Yang laughed at the nickname Naruto had decided to give her, feeling it fit her perfectly.

Seeing the two Grimm closing in, Ren decided to be the voice of reason, "So what's the plan?"

Naruto let a feral grin stretch across his face, "Hit 'em hard, and hit 'em fast!"

"I like it!" Ruby chimed in.

Weiss could only face palm, "Of course you would like that plan."

Twirling his shakujo with his fingers Naruto crouched low, "Less talking, more fighting!"

And with a burst of speed the blond was gone, making a beeline straight for the Death Stalker. Pyrrha nodded at Nora, giving the girl the unspoken order to follow the blond's lead as she and Ren provided covering fire. With a cheer the hammer wielding girl fired off a shot, the recoil pushing her forward and through the air.

"Don't forget about me Foxy!" Yang called out as she chased after Nora and her fellow blonde.

Taking a knee while Ren and Blake stood next to her, Pyrrha and the two raven haired teens began to unleash a hail of bullets, hoping to cause enough of an annoyance to the Death Stalker to give Yang, Nora, and Naruto an opening to use.

Seeing that the group was more than capable of handling the Death Stalker, Ruby and Weiss turned their eyes skyward, watching the Nevermore as it circled around them. Nodding to Weiss, Ruby folder her scythe into its rifle form before taking a knee and aiming upwards. Weiss stood over her and used her Semblance to create a circle of runes that burned a fiery shade of red. Using the scope on her weapon Ruby took aim at the Nevermore as it turned to focus on them.

Finally getting the gargantuan bird in her sights Ruby pulled the trigger of her rifle, letting a bullet fly from the barrel before it collided with the rune Weiss had created. Emerging out of the circle was not a bullet, but now a blazing ball of flames, hurtling through the air straight at the Nevermore. Cocking her gun yet again, Ruby let another bullet fly, creating another flaming projectile.

Seeing the blazing orbs flying straight at it, the Nevermore attempted to change its course, but due to its large size it was unable to do so quickly enough. As a consequence for its lack of maneuverability, the Grimm took both of the fireballs straight to the wing, causing it enough pain to make it screech. Still the Grimm seemed only to be made even angrier by this.

Glaring at Ruby and Weiss, it began to flap its mighty wings. Instead of the expected hail of feathers though there was only a heavy increase in the wind speed, enough of an increase to cause both Ruby and Weiss to be flung off their feet, tumbling away from the rest of the group.

Looking up from her position on top of the Death Stalker, Yang saw her sister being flung away from the others and was quick to react. Naruto saw the same thing and knew Yang would want to make it to her sister as quick as possible.

"Yang!"

The busty teen turned to the blue eyed Uzumaki and saw him gesture to his cupped hands. Understanding the gesture, she rushed towards Naruto. With a slight hop she placed her right foot into the cupped hands of Naruto. Pushing down as Naruto pushed up Yang was propelled up and over Naruto. Firing off a shot from the gauntlets on her hands Yang used the recoil to push her further and faster through the air.

Seeing her partner headed towards them and seeing where she was no doubt aiming, Blake unwrapped most of the ribbon that she used to tie her weapon to her hand and flung the gun portion of it towards the flying Yang. The blonde grabbed the gun and with a heave Blake managed to swing her partner around, giving her that much more momentum.

As Yang chased after her sister Blake turned to Pyrrha, silently communicating her want to follow her partner. The redhead understood quickly and offered her shielded back in return. Blake nodded gratefully before running towards Pyrrha. With a spin, Blake changed her direction as she landed on Pyrrha's shield, making her face the direction in which Yang had gone. With a shove Blake pushed herself off the bronze surface with enough force to send her off in a fashion similar to Yang.

Turning her gaze back to the Death Stalker, Pyrrha sweat dropped as she saw Nora happily wailing on the Grimm with her hammer, surprisingly causing slight dents in its armor. Naruto, while more restrained, was still as odd as he jabbed his shakujo into the few areas where the Grimm's armor didn't cover. Still all of this only served to make the Grimm that much angrier. Like a bucking bull the Death Stalker crouched and then quickly raised itself, sending both Nora and Naruto flying off its back.

Naruto flipped in the air, landing perfectly on his feet like nothing had happened. Nora was a little more flamboyant about her landing, curling into a ball and then uncurling at the perfect time to land on her feet. Flinging her arms into the air like a gymnast she called out, "Ta dah!"

Naruto held up a small white paper with the number nine written on it. Kurama unfurled his tail and on it was grasped a similar white paper with the number six on it.

Nora pouted, "Meanies!"

Ren shook his head while Pyrrha giggled at the the odd trio.

"Guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but there is still the matter of the Death Stalker to deal with," Pyrrha pointed out.

Naruto nodded as he warily stared at the Death Stalker, "None of our weapons can pierce that armor of its, even with Nora's help."

Moving as one the group evaded the pincer that had slammed into where they had just been standing, the impact causing a small dust cloud to form. The Death Stalker roared in frustration as its prey escaped it once again.

Narrowing his eyes Naruto continued his speech, "But it doesn't have any armor on its belly. That's where we gotta hit."

Taking into account what he knew of his impromptu team's abilities Naruto tried to think of a plan that would give them the opening they needed, something easier said than done.

_'Man it's times like this I wish I had Shikamaru with me. He was lazy as hell, but would have had like twenty different plans on how to take this thing down by now,'_ Naruto sighed.

Running his gaze over the Death Stalker that was now making its way towards them again, Naruto took note of another place its armor didn't cover.

With a grin the blond Uzumaki called out, "Legs!"

The other three teens regarded the Grimm and instantly saw what Naruto meant. Having come up with the idea and being the fastest of the four, Naruto lead the charge, Pyrrha following behind him, Nora behind her, and Ren bringing up the rear. Just as the Death Stalker attempted to catch them in its pincers, the group split into its pairs, Naruto and Pyrrha rushing off to the right side while Nora and Ren took the left.

Firing off shots from his twin pistols, Ren was able to punch holes in the legs of the Grimm. Thanks to their weakened integrity, he was able to quickly use the blades attached to his pistols and slice through two limbs with ease.

Nora on the other hand made a show of it by using her hammer like a baseball bat, swinging at the Death Stalker's exposed limbs with enough force to turn the bones in them into a fine powder.

On the opposite side of the odd pair Naruto and Pyrrha were handling their side with just as much ease. Pyrrha had transitioned her weapon into its short sword form and with her superior strength, cleanly cut straight the bottom half of the Grimm's leg. Tossing her shield like a deadly frisbee, she was able to just as quickly take care of the second leg.

Naruto followed behind her, and gripped the bar that lay inside the ring portion of his shakujo. With a tug Naruto revealed that hidden inside the pole of the staff was a razor sharp blade, the staff portion of the shakujo having acted as a sheath for it. The blade itself had only a single edge and lacked a curve, meaning that it was a chokuto class blade. Funneling his wind chakra through it Naruto was able to enhance its cutting power even more while also giving it an almost ethereal glow. With his sharpened sword the blond was able to easily cleave through the remaining legs of the Death Stalker like a hot knife through butter.

Jumping away Naruto joined the rest of his group as they watched the now legless Death Stalker cry out in pain and collapse to the ground. Without missing a heartbeat Naruto called out, "Nora! Now!"

Giving their impromptu leader a mock salute with a goofy grin stretched across her face Nora responded, "Yes sir!"

Letting her hammer fall to the ground Nora charged straight at the immobile form of the Grimm. As the eccentric teen closed the distance between her and the Death Stalker, Nora hefted her hammer up and as the weapon was inches away from its target the orange haired teen pulled the trigger on the handle, firing off a rocket and sending the hammer smashing against the underside of the Death Stalker's jaw. Due to the recoil from the shot, the hammer plowed into the Grimm with the force of a train.

Far too distracted by the pain of losing its limbs the Grimm was unable to defend itself in any way and took the full brunt of the attack, sending it into the air briefly before it collapsed on its side. Thanks to its rounded shape, the Death Stalker rolled onto its back, exposing its unprotected underbelly.

The group of four took advantage of the opportunity presented to them and quickly leapt on top of the now thrashing Grimm. Ren was the first to attack, unleashing a hail of bullets straight into the exposed underside of the Grimm's skill and then leaping off. Using the new opening given to her by the long haired male, Pyrrha was able to jab her spear further into the flesh of the Death Stalker. As she leapt off to join Ren, Naruto jammed his own weapon into the exposed flesh, his sword now standing perpendicular to Pyrrha's spear. With a mighty swing Nora smashed her hammer against the bottoms of the two weapons simultaneously, sending both Naruto and Pyrrha's weapons tunneling through the skull of the Grimm like a pair of railroad spikes.

The two sharp weapons pierced straight through the Death Stalker's skull, coming out the other side and ending up in the ground below the now unmoving corpse.

As the body of the Death Stalker began to fade into the wind the four teens began celebrating their victory over the massive Grimm. Nora let out a cheer of excitement, while Ren collapsed to the floor with a sigh and shake of his head. Pyrrha and Naruto shared a simple high five and smile.

Turning his head along with the others, Naruto let a grin stretch across his face as he witnessed Ruby coordinate her own group. The four worked in a surprisingly synchronized fashion for having only worked together for a few minutes, if that. Yang and Blake provided the distraction, with the ravenette also providing her unusually long and elastic ribbon for Ruby, creating a makeshift slingshot. Weiss then created a circle of ruins that he assumed would speed up Ruby even more.

Naruto was proven correct as Ruby soared through the air, the combination of the recoil from her scythe's gun half and Weiss' glyphs pushing her to very impressive speeds. What happened next threw even Naruto for a loop. Ruby hooked her scythe around the throat of the Nevermore, her feet landing solidly against the cliff face. Weiss again created more runes, making a line of them that drove straight up the cliff. Ruby used the runes to stick herself to the sheer cliff wall and began to give gravity the finger by scaling up the rocky wall, dragging the Nevermore behind her.

Firing off shots at a constant rate, Ruby was able to maintain her speed and quickly cover the entirety of the cliff in the matter of a few seconds. Reaching the cliff's plateau, the body of the Nevermore was stuck underneath the lip of said plateau. Another shot and a burst of speed from what he assumed to be her Semblance and Ruby's scythe cleaved straight through the Nevermore's neck, severing the head from the rest of its body.

As the the now headless corpse began to fall down the abyss at the bottom of the cliff, even Naruto had to admit what he had just seen was pretty damn awesome. To tie all together, there Ruby stood at the cliff top, scythe in hand, her cloak fluttering in the wind while rose petals left over from her Semblance fell around her.

Grinning Naruto let out a whistle of appreciation at the sight.

_'Impressive...for a ningen _(human)_,'_ Kurama groused.

_'Stubborn old fox,' _Naruto retorted.

_'Blond haired idiot.'_

_'Furball!'_

_'Stupid monkey!'_

Everyone sweat dropped when they turned to see Naruto choking his fox while said quadruped was clawing at his face. The sweat drops grew even larger when the duo fell to the floor, Naruto throwing punches while Kurama bit and scratched.

"TAKE THAT BACK YOU BAKA-KITSUNE (Idiot Fox)!"

* * *

Naruto stood with his arms behind his head as he listened to Ozpin announce the names of the team that had finished before he and the others had. His suspicion about two pairs being placed together to make teams of four being proven correct. Him and Kurama had only raised an eyebrow at seeing another parallel between the military system of Remnant and the Shinobi villages'. It seemed that the saying of "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it" was a universal truth.

When it came time for him, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren to step up, he did so with a grin on his face.

Ozpin turned to regard the four teens that stood before him, though his gaze lingered on the blond male of the team for a little bit longer than the others.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the gold rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team NNPR (Napier)."

Nora cheered and hugged Ren, who was attempting to hide his own smile. Naruto only grinned as he and Pyrrha exchanged a congratulatory look.

Ozpin coughed to gain their attention again and continued, "The leader of which will be...Naruto Uzumaki."

Cheers and clapping came from the audience while Pyrrha offered Naruto a smile and a pat on the back. Ren nodded at the blond and Nora gave him a goofy salute.

Naruto for his part looked neither shocked nor overly proud at hearing his being selected as the leader of the time. Instead he dropped his arms to his sides and bowed to Ozpin with a blank face, earning a raised brown from the headmaster. His teammates were just as shocked at seeing the usually smiling Uzumaki quickly become so serious. They were however relieved to see Naruto return to normal as he came up from the bow with a foxy grin on his tanned face.

Walking off the stage, the now named team NNPR bumped into Ruby and her own little group. Ruby hugged Naruto and offered her own congratulations. The moment was ruined when Yang grabbed her fellow blond in a headlock and began to give him a noogie.

Escaping from Yang's grip Naruto turned to look at Blake. In return the quiet teen offered Naruto a small nod of respect as her congratulations. Weiss was the odd one out as she scoffed and rolled her eyes. Naruto, already used to Weiss' type, grinned before poking her in her side, getting a surprised yelp from the Schnee heiress and laughs from everyone else.

Before Weiss could do anything to get revenge Ozpin began calling out their names and Weiss stomped off with a still giggling Ruby.

"And finally, Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team RWBY (Ruby), led by...Ruby Rose."

Once more cheers erupted from the audience. Yang rushed to crush her sister in another of her hugs while Weiss looked oddly offended. Blake meanwhile stood there stoically, taking the news with her usual brand of apathy.

As both teams RWBY and NNPR celebrated their successfully initiation and team assignments Ozpin looked on with a small smile.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be...an...interesting year," Ozpin muttered quietly to himself.

* * *

**EDIT: **i got some questions regarding the meaning of Naruto's team name. All the teams in Ruby's year were named after a color. I decided to stick with that theme, so Napier is a shade of green for those wondering.

**AN:** JEE-ZUS! God damn that was a friggin doozy to write! 24 pages and 9000 and some hundred words. Not the longest chapter I've written but it is up there. And that folks is mostly thanks to you. How could I not want to write such a monster when you guys were so vocal in your opinions of this fic.

Regarding said opinions!

There seem to be equal amounts of want for a harem pairing and a single pairing. Personally? I'm leaning towards a single pairing with either Pyrrha or Blake. However romance and all that will gradually make its way in as the characters grow and all that, so I'm not too concerned with it right now.

Though maybe I could spin it to be a pairing with Neo (Neopolitan) or Cinder! Why do the villains gotta be so hot?

Either way both sides raised a question/comment regarding Blake. Honestly? I don't like Sun. Both he and Neptune have done next to nothing. They've both helped...what..one time against Torchwick? Then for the Volume 2 finale they popped up for like 5 seconds...and that was it. Shit Jaune has done more than them combined!

And yes Sun played a role in Blake's whole thing (don't wanna spoil) but the way he did it was such BS in my opinion. Neptune was there as a foil to Jaune (sort of) but without Jaune there's really no reason for him to be there. Also I hated how the writers put them in there as a sort of arbitrary pairing for Blake and Weiss and that's it.

As such I think I'm gonna retcon both of them. For those not comic book savvy, retcon pretty much means their asses are getting deleted.

Even if this ends up not being a harem, so what. Team RWBY are really well made characters that don't need no man. They got each other!...no that doesn't mean Yuri either you pervs.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or pm'd me with a weapon idea! Sorry if I didn't go with yours, but this is something I talked out with my fellow nerd and friend, Vic. More details on Naruto's weapon will be revealed the more he uses it. Suffice it to say though that all the mechanics and the logistics of it have already been worked out.

As for Kurama. He WILL be playing a bigger role in future chapters, he won't just be Naruto's talking scarf or something like that.

Before I blabber on! I'd like to thank my friend Victoria who is helping me edit this and my Pokemon fic. I bounce ideas off of her and she helps me with the grammar and all that, so say thank you to her for cleaning up my messes.

On that note head to my profile for links to both mine and her YouTube accounts. We do music and gaming stuff together.

Also I'd appreciate it if someone would volunteer to do some art for this fic. Know anybody or wanna do it yourself? Pm me and we'll talk!

ALSO! Do you like Pokemon? Well me and Victoria do and we are super hyped for the Ruby/Sapphire remakes. In our hype we're doing a stream on our twitch accounts of the old Ruby and Sapphire on Thursday the 13th at 4 pm PST (7 EST). Come join us and hang out! The link to my Twitch account will be up on my profile so be on the look out!

All that said, leave a review and all that good stuff. Questions that you want answered ASAP? Pm me.

Until next chapter!

PEACE

OUT!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **I know I took awhile getting to this and I'm sorry for that. Between Pokemon ORAS coming out and having two research papers due for different classes I was busy with other things. Luckily I have a week off for Turkey Day (Thanksgiving) so between my marathons of playing ORAS and other things I figured I finally get to writing this out.

First off before I answer reviews, THANK YOU! We passed the one hundred mark in reviews! May not seem to be a big deal but it's always reassuring to see, especially on new ventures. Besides that though, 100 reviews on just two chapters, so that's pretty cool. So thank you guys for that! Who knows, hopefully this may smash through my DxD story's current title of most reviewed story, fingers crossed.

Some were wondering about the team name NNPR, in the sense of why the color. No, not every team is named after a color, Team SSSN for example. HOWEVER the teams from Beacon are indeed all named after a color. I don't know about the other kingdoms, but yea Beacon does a color theme.

As far as the whole pairing thing...meh I'll figure it out at a later date. I'll focus on establishing character and all that then worry about the romance. That's not to say there won't be some funny and/or fluffy moments between Naruto and the others. It just won't be anything concrete till I decide what I wanna do.

I will say this though, it's probably gonna be a single pairing. With who? I don't know yet.

There were also some worries about me focusing on like an angst side thing. Nope. There will be some conflict and drama and all but not so much that it spans like chapters. I don't enjoy reading drawn out angst episodes nor will I write em.

Other than that there wasn't much else to review. Y'all seem pretty happy with the story, given its only two chapters sooo...yup.

Oh! This chapter will feature some pretty big divergences from canon, what with Team NNPR taking the spotlight instead of RWBY. They'll pop up obviously but you guys know what they're doing already so that's taken care of.

Roll the chapter!

* * *

Naruto was a little surprised when he saw his team's reactions, or lack thereof, when they found out that they'd all be sharing a room together. Although thinking about it, Nora was far too bubbly and innocent to really care about stuff like that and Ren was generally apathetic to most things in life. Pyrrha didn't look at all bothered by it either which he guessed was due to her being more focused on other things like actually training and getting to know her new friends.

Of course Naruto could care less. Having Jiraiya as a godfather and mentor meant that he was pretty familiar with the female form. Besides that though, there were plenty of times he had to share a tent or even a bed with a female teammate on a mission and getting all flustered because of something as insignificant as gender was pretty immature, especially on a mission when you could very well die if you were not on guard at all times.

Even still he and the others stared questioningly at the current arrangement of furniture. All the beds were smooshed together in one corner with a dresser for each shoved into another corner. That wasn't even taking into account their own personal belongings either.

The room was clearly not big enough to hold four people and their things properly.

"Uhh...how the heck do they expect us to all fit like this?" Naruto asked aloud as he scratched his head in wonder.

Pyrrha shrugged and Ren offered a thoughtful frown as his response.

"Ooo! What if it's so that when the zombie apocalypse happens the zombies won't be able to make it around all this furniture!"

Pyrrha was quietly giggling at Nora's odd response while Ren, more than used to his friend's eccentricities, only sighed and shook his head. Naruto couldn't resist and just laughed at the hammer wielding girl's oddness. Nora herself continued to smile that goofy smile of hers.

_'Odd girl's stupidity aside, I say you just toss out two of the beds. You bunk with the hot red head and Mr. Life Is Oh So Boring over there can probably get the weird vixen to bang a smile onto his face,'_ Kurama spoke nonchalantly.

Naruto began to sputter as a blush spread across his face. He'd be lying if he said the thought wasn't tempting. Pyrrha was very attractive and he doubted Ren and Nora would mind the arrangement either. Though the thought of the two doing the naked tango was hilarious and he had to stop himself from ending up on the floor with tears of laughter streaming down his face.

He did not want to explain to anybody why he was suddenly dying of laughter.

Noticing that Pyrrha was sending him a questioning look, no doubt wondering why he was suddenly blushing, Naruto managed to pull himself together.

After a moment's thought he snapped his fingers as the proverbial light bulb went off, "Bunk beds!"

The other members of NNPR appeared to mull the idea over a bit before they gave their response.

"It would be the most efficient way to make this work," Pyrrha offered.

Ren nodded along in agreement with the redheaded teen's statement. Nora on the other hand was the most vocal about her opinion, "Yay! Ren! We're finally getting those bunk beds we've wanted since we were five! Maybe next we can go get that chinchilla I've always wanted! Or maybe a pet fox!...wait...no Naruto already has one. Hmm..."

Ren put hand to face in what seemed to be a perfectly executed performance of the universally known "Face Palm no jutsu". Then again having Nora as a friend probably gave him a lot of practice.

Naruto began to wonder how Ren didn't have a single gray hair by now. Stroking his non-existent beard in thought, the blonde was hit with an epiphany.

"That's why you dyed those parts of your hair pink! To hide your gray hairs!"

"Take that back! Ren does not have a single gray hair! I should know, I was the one who dyed his hair," Nora huffed in an effort to defend her long time friend.

As Nora and Naruto began a heated debate on hair color of all things, Pyrrha was torn between laughing her butt off or feeling sorry for Ren who looked to be close to smacking his head on a wall.

Before much else could happen the familiar voice of a certain scythe wielding girl's voice rang throughout the halls, "Uhh...TO CLASS!"

The four members of team NNPR turned to look at the clock at the wall and seeing that they only had five minutes to make it to class on time, began to hurriedly grab their school supplies before rushing out the door, feet behind the members of an equally rushing team RWBY.

As the two teams kept pace with each other in their mad dash to get to class on time Naruto casually struck up a conversation with his fellow team leader, "So is your room as cramped as ours?"

Ruby smiled upon seeing her blond friend and shook her head, "Nope! Not anymore!"

Naruto chuckled at the bubbly girl's response and replied, "What'd you do, toss out your beds?"

Again Ruby shook her head as they veered around a corner, narrowly avoiding a random passerby as they did so, "Nope! We just made bunk beds!"

"I guess what they say is true, great minds think alike!" Naruto replied back with a grin.

Our blonde protagonist could faintly hear Weiss scoff from behind them and mutter something about them being nuts. In response Naruto just turned back and childishly stuck his tongue out at the white haired Schnee heiress.

However his attention was diverted when he heard Pyrrha's voice call out to him, "Naruto! Look out!"

Turning around the blond Uzumaki cursed under his breath as he realized he was on a collision course with a random female student who didn't realize that she had a group of eight speeding teens headed towards her.

Deciding to show off a bit Naruto lowered himself closer to the floor before opening his arms, scooping the shocked teen into his arms.

"Sorry 'bout this!" He called as he casually tossed the girl over his head like a sack of potatoes.

The girl screamed as she feared that she was going to be trampled on by the other teens behind the blond, but was surprised when she was caught in the arms of a sheepishly grinning Pyrrha.

"We really are sorry about this," the redhead said before depositing her in a nearby hallway, out of the way of the rest of teams RWBY and NNPR.

For a few seconds the still frightened and astonished girl stood stock still, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened to her in the span of a few seconds. As her mind realized what had happened she robotically turned on her foot and began to make her way back down the hallway she had come from, deciding that it would be best if she never spoke of what had just happened.

* * *

The two teams eventually made it to class on time without further incident. Minutes into the class however most of them were wishing that they hadn't made it on time.

Professor Port, a short and rather large old man, was boring beyond measure.

Naruto was trying his damnedest to stay awake while Kurama had actually taken the train straight to snooze-ville and was lightly snoring away on his container's lap. Pyrrha was attempting to look interested, but it was clear that even she thought the professor was an absolute bore. Nora was not even trying to look interested and was instead doodling away inside her notebook. Ren looked even more apathetic than was his norm, something Naruto thought was scientifically impossible.

The only mildly interesting thing that had happened during the professor's lecture was his not so subtle attempt at flirting with Yang. Naruto was honestly surprised his fellow blonde hadn't straight up punched the guy's lights out, but that was him. Nonetheless he considered Yang a friend and made a mental note to offer her his services as the infamous Prankster King of Konoha.

If he could get away with putting itching powder on the robes of the Hokage, the so called strongest shinobi of Konoha who had a near 24/7 guard of highly trained shinobi from the ANBU Black Ops Division, then just imagine the pranks he could pull on some old Huntsman.

Pyrrha sweat dropped when she noticed that the formerly half asleep Naruto was now wide awake and furiously writing notes of some kind with a very mischievous grin stretching across his face.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Weiss though when the professor asked who thought themselves to have the traits of a true Huntsman or Huntress with the Schnee heiress promptly raising her hand.

The professor took this in stride and had Weiss go and retrieve her battle gear. When she returned, there in the middle of the class was a cage holding something that definitely wanted out.

As Naruto watched the rest of Weiss' team cheer her on, his eyes narrowed when he saw the rapier wielder grow frustrated. Naruto began to to pay even more attention as Weiss faced down the Boarbatusk that Professor Port had released from the cage. While he hadn't known the Schnee heiress for long he knew her style of fighting very well. The way she fought depended heavily upon her speed and ability to dance around her opponent, all while keeping calm and in control of the flow of battle. However it seemed that something, or rather someone, was making her exceedingly frustrated, throwing her fighting style off.

It was becoming increasingly clear who the source of said frustration was as the minutes ticked by and Weiss grew sloppier and sloppier with her movements. Evidently it was her own team leader, Ruby. Naruto had a feeling he knew exactly why as well. Like he and Kurama had said before, the Schnee heiress was like a female version of his old teammate Sasuke Uchiha.

Both were born into highly prestigious families and were raised getting almost everything they wanted handed to them on a golden platter. As such they grew to be arrogant, thinking themselves better than everybody else simply because of their upbringing and family name. Naruto didn't like to admit it, but there was a good reason for that arrogance.

It seemed that like Sasuke, Weiss had taken advantage of her wealth and family name, getting herself the best combat tutors that money could buy.

It certainly paid off.

While Weiss was far and away from being as strong as some of the shinobi he knew or even some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses he had met, she was still very much so ahead of her age. Ruby, Blake, and Yang were all strong in their own right, but Weiss was as well. Backed by her formal training and such, Weiss was a formidable opponent and would only come to grow stronger...if she allowed herself to.

It was true that she, again, like Sasuke, would grow to a level of strength that most could only dream of achieving thanks to her family name and wealth, but she would eventually hit a plateau of her own making. Only by opening up her mind and ridding herself of that arrogance would she be able to reach her proverbial peak.

After witnessing the little episode between Weiss and Ruby and Port's subsequent call for class to end, Naruto quietly collected his things and gave his team a look, letting them know that he would see them in a while. The four teens just nodded their heads, knowing that their leader would want to help in any way he could.

As Naruto caught up to Ruby and Weiss, he caught the tail end of their conversation. Hearing what Weiss said Naruto had to resist the urge to go up to Weiss and physically knock some sense into her.

"Ozpin made a mistake."

Naruto could see just how much that hurt Ruby to hear from Weiss, someone she considered a friend and he was sorely tempted to go up to Ruby and console her.

However seeing the silver haired headmaster of Beacon only feet away from Ruby, Naruto knew she would be in good hands and instead decided to look for Weiss. He was not just going to sit back and watch a team fall into the same faults that had caused his own team to shatter into pieces.

* * *

Weiss sighed to herself and began to contemplate what she had said to Ruby. Part of her regretted saying what she had, knowing that while part of it was her true feelings, most of it was the result of pent up frustration. Misplaced frustration at that.

True she was angry at Ruby and part of her was questioning why Ozpin had made the younger teen team leader, but she could have said so in a much more thought out and easier to swallow manner. Not in a way that had no doubt crushed Ruby. Ruby who really wasn't at all to blame.

As Weiss made to look for Ruby she was surprised to bump into the solid wall of flesh that was Naruto Uzumaki. Not in the mood for the usually cheerful blond, Weiss opened her mouth to tell the blonde haired Uzumaki to leave her alone, but her mouth was quickly snapped shut upon seeing the look in the teen's eyes.

Gone was the normally grinning and goofy blond, instead there was a decidedly very angry and frustrated Uzumaki.

"Follow me," was all that Naruto said.

Weiss would have normally brushed off the teen with her a scoff, but she found that the look in his eye compounded with the roughness in his voice made her extremely hesitant to disobey him. As such, she quietly followed behind Naruto as he led her out to a balcony that overlooked not only Beacon, but the whole kingdom of Vale.

For a minute neither said anything, Naruto with his arms crossed staring out at the city in the distance while Weiss quietly and impatiently waited for the blond to speak. When her patience was all but gone and her irritation steadily building, the Schnee heiress was ready to simply turn around walk away from Naruto.

The low voice of Naruto put that thought process to a stop though, "I had a teammate named Sasuke Uchiha. You remind me of him quite a bit. Both of you were born into prestigious families, both of you excel in combat, and both of you also view those around you as insignificant, or as obstacles in the way of your goals at best."

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she saw Naruto sigh and his shoulders fall. Still refusing to look at her he continued, "We realized how similar we were in some ways and forged a bond. Both of us were orphaned at a young age, people never saw us for who were, only seeing the titles and masks we put on, and most importantly, we had a goal that we trained day and night to achieve. In time we became like brothers. Then something happened. One of our village's greatest traitors offered him power, power to achieve his goal and Sasuke took it. From there things spiraled out of control. Sasuke abandoned our village, he turned his back on our bond, and he tried numerous times to kill me while I foolishly fought to bring him back home."

Weiss gasped in shock as Naruto wove his tale. To her it didn't make sense. What could possibly make a person turn on someone they viewed as a brother? What possible gain was there that could justify such a betrayal? Nonetheless the Schnee heiress waited with bated breath, wondering how this tale ended.

Taking a deep breath Naruto continued, "I will say this, Sasuke got what he wanted in the end. He got the power he had always wanted. With it he was able to finally achieve his goal and kill the man responsible for his family's death. However he realized that he was still left feeling empty. He had sacrificed everything; his morals, his friendships, and his sanity to achieve this goal and for what? A selfish notion of revenge?"

Feeling the emotional weight of the situation, Weiss asked the only question on her mind, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Naruto finally turned to look at Weiss and she was shocked to see his sapphire blue eyes looking at her with untold amounts of regret and sorrow.

"Because Sasuke was like a brother to me. I chased after him, intent on bringing him back home, thinking that I could put him back on the right path all the while watching as our team and friendship was destroyed beyond recognition. I'm telling you this, because I refuse to see it happen again. Weiss, you're strong, you're smart, and you are gifted, no doubt about that. But the minute you let that all go to your head, you become something else entirely. Just because things didn't go the way you wanted them to, the way you thought they should, doesn't mean you lash out at the people who care for you. You wanna prove to Ozpin and everyone else that you are an amazing Huntress? Then show them, but not at the price of friendships and who you are."

Again silence engulfed the duo, Weiss lost in her own thoughts while Naruto took some time to recompose himself. He hadn't told Weiss everything that had happened with Sasuke, but still it was enough to dredge up old feelings of failure and regret. To this day Naruto didn't know if that regret was over not being able to bring Sasuke back or that he himself risked so much on a fool's errand.

The Schnee heiress let out a yelp of surprise when Naruto popped up in her vision, their faces inches apart, and that same old goofy grin of his on his face now, "You got it...Princess?"

Weiss huffed as Naruto walked off laughing, hands crossed behind his head. Even still there was a small but noticeable smile on her face. As Naruto disappeared around the corner, the Schnee heiress spared the setting sun one last look before venturing off, an apology working its way through her mind.

From a balcony above the two teens a certain silver haired headmaster and his blonde haired deputy headmistress turned and began to walk away from the scene.

"Ozpin, you have to realize that we can't just let this boy continue without finding out more about him. He has too many secrets to allow him to be around the students," Glynda spoke in an urgent voice.

Ozpin seemed unperturbed by the day's events, calmly sipping his coffee.

"He hides no more secrets than you or I do and yet we are responsible for molding these young ones more than he is. Would it not be hypocritical of us to pry into his life in such a manner when we would not readily let him do the same?"

Glynda looked offended at the veiled insult but was quick to reply, "This is different Ozpin. We are adults-"

The headmaster was quick to cut Glynda off, "And they are not? We are entrusting them with the safety of Vale and its people. We allow them to waltz around carrying weapons of unbelievable danger and we trust them not to misuse them. It is only fair that we also trust them, and specifically young Naruto, to know when it is appropriate to keep secrets."

Glynda was quiet, finding no response to Ozpin's small speech.

As the two walked back to their own offices, neither saw a shadow part from the walls, falling to show a certain blond haired teen.

_'It's funny, Ozpin reminds me not only of Kakashi-sensei but Sarutobi-jiji (_Old Man/Grandpa Sarutobi) _as well.'_

_'Yes, yes I get it kit, there are so many parallels between here and Konoha. Enough now. I'm tired and would like to lay on a comfortable bed for once,' _Kurama huffed.

Naruto just stuck his tongue at Kurama, _'Yeah, yeah, whatever you lazy ball of fur.'_

* * *

Finally after a long day of boring and useless, to Naruto, classes, team NNPR met back up in their shared bedroom and as one, collapsed onto their individual beds with a groan of relief.

Naruto was the one to realize something though, "Guys...we still have to make the bunk beds and get situated."

The rest of team NNPR responded with a single unanimous groan of frustration.

Deciding to take the lead as the captain of the team, Naruto flipped onto his back and spoke aloud, "How about this, we take this time now to at least unpack a little and get to know each other and tomorrow morning we wake up a little earlier and at least make the bunk beds. Sound good?"

Getting a bout of that hyperactive energy she was known for, Nora jumped up and seated herself cross legged on her bed and replied with a salute, "Sounds like a plan Captain Naruto!"

The blond grinned as he heard Nora refer to him as the captain. Sure it wasn't Hokage, but it was good enough for him.

Ren slowly rose from his face down position and calmly seated himself on his own bed, Pyrrha doing the same whilst freeing her red locks from her usual ponytail and taking off the less than comfortable school blazer.

As the red head shook her head to rid herself of any remaining knots in her hair, Naruto had to force himself to look away, fearing that he would make a fool of himself if he stared any longer.

Clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment Naruto began, "Well I guess I'll go first then. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, Kurama, my precious people, and the color orange. I dislike how long it takes for ramen to be made, arrogant jerks, and bigots. My dream for the future is to make my precious people proud and live a happy life."

Pyrrha smiled as she heard Naruto's dream. It was an admirable goal while still being relatively simple and down to earth. Knowing what had happened to her friend's precious people though made her frown internally. All Naruto had left of his home and his loved ones were memories. Silently the red headed teen vowed to herself to make sure Naruto was able to achieve his dream and find more precious people to live it with.

"Oh! Oh! Me next!" Nora exclaimed as she fidgeted in her seat while raising her hand like a five year old on a sugar rush.

Laughing at his teammate's hyperactivity Naruto just pointed at her, "Go ahead Nora."

With her goofy grin on Nora spoke, "My name is Nora Valkyrie! I like Ren's pancakes, Ren, my family, and the color pink! I dislike mean people and people who hurt my friends and family. My dream is to live in my own castle and rule as queen of all pancakes!"

Naruto and Pyrrha chuckled upon hearing Nora's dream while Ren quietly shook his head. Nora was definitely an odd one, but that was what made her so fun to be around.

Seeing as Ren was being his typical quiet self, Pyrrha chose to take her turn, "My name is Pyrrha Nikos. I like baklava (1), my family, making new friends, and the color red. I dislike people who would commit atrocious acts like bullying, and people who only see others as tools for their own benefit. My dream is to become a teacher and maybe have a family of my own."

_'Naruto, meet Pyrrha, you're perfect match,' _Kurama joked.

Naruto coughed to hide his blush. As much as he hated to admit it, the fox was right. Pyrrha was damn close to being his dream girl. In a weird way she also sounded a lot like his own mother, minus the whole short temper thing. In that regard Pyrrha was the total opposite to his mother who was infamous for her short fuse and subsequent violent outbursts.

Thankfully before anyone could question Naruto's sudden cough, Ren decided it was his turn to to speak, "My name is Lie-Ren. I enjoy Jasmine tea, meditating, and certain people. I dislike those who interrupt my meditation time. My dream is to simply live my life as best I can."

_'Yup, definitely needs to get laid,' _Naruto nodded to himself.

_'Couldn't agree more kit. The weird vixen would probably do it if you worded it the right way,'_ Kurama chimed in.

The other members of team NNPR were left with questions when they saw Naruto and Kurama share a look, the same mischievous smirk on their faces. For some reason Ren felt that he was somehow going to have to sleep with one eye open around them from now on.

Letting out a yawn that spread around the room's occupants, Naruto stretched and said, "Well I say we let the girls shower first. Whoever isn't showering starts unpacking their things, at least the essentials like clothes. Since tomorrow is a short day we'll head out to one of the training fields and get to know each other's fighting style and such."

As Naruto and Ren got to unpacking some of their things, Nora and Pyrrha reached an agreement that Pyrrha would shower first then Nora would. The bubbly teen joked that maybe Ren should take her spot though, what with him having much longer hair than her. Everyone had a good laugh at Ren's expense while the raven haired teen simply sighed to himself.

Soon though the room was quiet, with the exception of Nora humming to herself something that sounded vaguely like "I'm queen of the castle~".

A few minutes later and Naruto had already unsealed some of his belongings from the scrolls he had on him, making sure that he did so as discreetly as possible. He was probably going to tell them about his Fuinjutsu after classes the next day, but he didn't really want to surprise them by pulling clothes and such out of a seal on a scroll. Even he knew it was a little odd to see.

However he had stumbled upon a book that he had forgotten was sealed into one of his scrolls and was soon absorbed in his own little world. Kurama had long since claimed a pillow and was curled into a ball snoozing away.

Being so into the book, Naruto jumped a little when he felt a soft hand touch his arm. Turning he saw Pyrrha smiling at him and was his usual around the red head, he began to blush. No one could really blame him either. With her hair let down and looking especially silky after her shower and clothed in a simple red tank top and black gym shorts, Pyrrha was looking especially beautiful. That wasn't to say that she didn't always look extremely attractive, but even in her school clothes she seemed to exude this air of formality.

Clad in only her pajamas and with a soft smile on her face, Pyrrha looked less like "The Invincible Girl" and more like Pyrrha Nikos, the girl. Given she could probably still kick someone's ass six ways to Sunday even in her pajamas, but that was just Pyrrha.

"You look...great Pyrrha," Naruto muttered more to himself.

As per the laws of the universe however, Pyrrha heard it loud and clear, causing a blush to spring up on her face.

"Thanks," she shyly replied.

Normally she would be able to simply brush compliments like that off, being more than used to getting them thanks to her fame, but with Naruto it was a little different. She knew that despite his secrets, he was an honest and good guy who always put the needs of his friends above his own. She also knew that Naruto never said anything with an ulterior motive, at least to those he trusted.

That was the usual case with most of the people who complimented her. They always wanted something from her in return, like them complimenting her meant she owed them.

But Naruto said it simply to say it with no other motive, albeit he probably didn't mean for her to hear it.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the two teens still blushing, Pyrrha cleared her throat and pointed at Naruto's book, "What were you reading?"

Thankful for having something else to talk about, Naruto picked up the book with a small nostalgic smile, "It's called The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. It's the first book that my godfather ever wrote."

Pyhrra smiled upon seeing how much joy the book brought the blond and decided to seat herself at the edge of his bed, Naruto moving to accommodate his guest.

"What's it about?"

Naruto looked down at the book and slowly thumbed through the pages as he answered, "It's about a ninja who never gives up and vows that he'll break an evil curse that plagues his world."

Not knowing just how similar the book's plot was to Naruto's own life, Pyrrha continued, "Sounds like he's a hero. What's his name?"

The redhead was a little surprised when the blond began to chuckle softly before he looked her in the eye, still chuckling, "His name's Naruto."

Finally understanding why her friend was chuckling, Pyrrha also began to laugh softly, "So your godfather named the character after you?"

Shaking his head Naruto answered, "No, he wrote the book long before my parents were even together. My parents actually named me after the character in the book, hoping that I would grown up to be just like the Naruto in the story."

Pyrrha placed a hand on top of Naruto's, drawing his attention to her, "Well I'd say they got their wish."

It wasn't long till both realized that Pyrrha's hand was still touching Naruto's and almost as if being burned by a fire, they both recoiled. Blushing heavily Pyrrha stood up and nervously said, "Uh, I came to tell you the shower is free for you to use."

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks Pyrrha."

A few minutes later, a very relieved and tired Naruto stepped out of the shower to find his other teammates sleeping away. Throwing his dirty clothes into a hamper by the door he allowed himself to collapse onto his own bed, ready for Morpheus to take him into his realm.

As he began to drift off he heard the soft voice of Pyrrha, "Goodnight Naruto."

Smiling he whispered back, "Night Pyrrha."

* * *

The next afternoon found a battle ready team NNPR occupying one of the high tech training facilities that Beacon boasted, Naruto having reserved them a two hour time slot earlier that morning. All of them ran through basic stretches together before they separated to go through their own unique warm ups which was something Naruto was happy to see.

Jiraiya had all but pounded the importance of a good warm up into his head during their little training trip together. Of course for shinobi warm ups were a luxury. The enemy wasn't gonna let you get a couple stretches in so you could properly be warmed up.

Still it was interesting to see each of his teammates unique warm ups. Pyrrha's stretches and what not were more or less centered around her arms which, given her weapon, made the most sense. Of course that wasn't to say she wasn't working out her long legs either.

Naruto admitted that Pyrrha's height was odd to him, seeing as how most girls he had ever known peaked at around the five foot something mark. Even the guys he knew were relatively short, Jiraiya being rather unique with his six foot stature.

Once upon a time he himself had been woefully short, mostly due to his malnutrition. Thanks to his godmother Tsunade, another member of the Sannin, who was a world renown medic said to be capable of healing almost any wound, Naruto was forced to eat healthier. Thanks to his change in diet Naruto was able to put on a healthy amount of muscle and even began to grow quite tall.

What was odd was that he continued to grow tall. At the age of seventeen he stood at a solid six foot, five inches. Considering that his father topped out at five foot something and his mother was even shorter than that, Naruto's height was something of a mystery. Both he and Tsunade had chalked it up to his massive chakra reserves and having Kurama sealed in his body.

With his increase in height, Naruto was more than happy to brag about his towering height. Seeing as how even Yang was a head or so shorter than him, Naruto was sure that he could continue to do so. Pyrrha put a stop to that. Sure she was still shorter than him, but not enough so that he had to look down to look her in the eye. Shrugging Naruto just chalked it up to it being another quality that made Pyrrha different than most girls.

Turning to observe the other two members of the team, Naruto was none too surprised to see Ren meditating. He was a little surprised to see Nora actually carefully and tediously going through her own stretches and lifts. Then again he was the poster boy for the saying "looks can be deceiving". And besides that, he knew very well that despite her deceptively foolish demeanor, the girl could pack a whallop. After all she was the only one who was actually able to at least dent the armor of that Death Stalker on her own. Admittedly she was only capable of doing so after numerous Aura empowered hits, but it still showed just how much power her hits held.

Naruto shivered to think what kind of damage the hammer wielding girl could be capable of if she were to ever learn Tsunade's super strength technique. Tsunade herself was capable of creating fissures in the earth with a simple punch and that was on her worst days. Naruto had to resist the urge to scream in terror when he imagined what Tsunade would have been capable of with Nora's hammer.

Seeing the rest of his team ready to go for whatever he had in mind for them, Naruto stopped his own stretches before joining his teammates at the center of the training field.

"Alright now that we're all warmed up, it's time to get some actual training. From what I've seen you guys already know your own strengths and already have things you guys want to improve on. As such the best thing for us to do right now is to train on working as a team," Naruto paused to turn to Nora and Ren before continuing, "I already know you two know how to work together well so, for now, me and Pyrrha will team up and see how we fare against you two. Sound good?"

Ren nodded, agreeing with Naruto's assessment, while Nora...was Nora, "Yes sir! C'mon Ren time to show em the power of friendship!"

Chuckling Naruto turned to address Pyrrha as they walked to the other half of the field, "Alright so I already know you're pretty good at both long and short range combat. You have any preferences?"

"Well if I had to pick, I'd say close range, mostly because it takes me less time to prepare for, which I doubt those two will give us," Pyrrha replied.

Nodding his head Naruto agreed. Ren was agile and quick footed, but lacked stamina. As such he and Nora were likely to go with the hit hard and hit fast tactic. That was a very bad idea for them though.

Naruto was a stamina monster and could take hits that could kill most people and shrug them off like nothing, ready to keep going. He knew that Pyrrha, while not as much of a stamina monster like him, could hold her own. Add to that the fact that both he and Pyrrha were able to quickly analyze their opponents and come up with plans on the fly, they were the worst duo for Ren and Nora to go up against. He and Pyrrha could outlast them and use their fatigue as an advantage.

Of course that all sounded nice on paper. Naruto knew well enough that plans did not survive contact with an enemy, much less one as unpredictable as Nora. She was the unknown element. Naruto had fought so many agile and speedy opponents like Ren that he pretty much had a formula on how to beat them. Nora was like him though - strong, durable, a heavy hitter, and unpredictable.

"Well I guess we hit em as hard as we can and see if we can't tire em out. Just watch out for Nora, who know's what she'll pull out."

Pyrrha nodded as she pulled her shield and sword from her back, taking on a ready stance. Naruto unravelled the scroll that held his own weapon, unsealing it in a poof of smoke.

Across the field Nora and Ren had pulled out their respective weapons, looking just as ready as their teammates.

Calling out across the field Naruto spoke, "Alright! So team Red Storm versus team...uh…"

"Pancake!"

"..."

"..."

"...right. Team Red Storm versus team Pancake! Ready?...Go!"

In a burst of speed both Ren and Nora took off heading straight for Naruto and Pyrrha. More than prepared for this Naruto stuck his staff into the ground before reaching into the pouches on his thighs. Pulling his hands out, kunai knives were grasped in each of the open spaces between his fingers. Before he tossed the blades, Naruto made a quick mental thank you to the people responsible for Remnant's technology.

Normally he would have to carefully aim for non-vital spots lest he wanted to end up killing someone. Thankfully though, each of Beacon's training grounds were outfitted with some mechanism or other that layered the people in it with a barrier of sorts that blunted most damage. Where his knives would normally pierce, they would now only bruise and sting.

Pyrrha seemed to take advantage of this as well, swiftly situating her shield on her back before shifting her sword into its rifle form, taking aim, and letting loose a hail of bullets.

Despite knowing about the protection the training fields offered, Nora nor Ren were too keen on getting hit by any of the projectiles headed for them. The two childhood friends shared an almost imperceptible nod before Nora took point. Heaving her hammer into the air, Nora drove the massive weapon into the ground in front of them, sending chunks of the ground flying into the air, providing team Pancake with a suitable cover from Red Storm's rain of projectiles.

Ren however put the chunks of rock to further use, using them as a platforms that allowed him to swiftly hop his into the air over the rain of kunai and bullets.

Showing off his control over his body, Ren twisted himself in mid air, his twin pistols aimed straight at Naruto and Pyrrha. Applying the necessary force, Ren pulled the triggers and let fly his own hail of bullets.

Pyrrha and Naruto adjusted to the onslaught with relative ease.

The red head grabbed her shield off her back, crouched low, and hid behind the round bronze item. Using the curved groove in the shield, Pyrrha situated her rifle and began to answer Ren's bullets with her own.

Naruto meanwhile applied Chakra to his palm, sticking his staff to it, and, using a plentiful amount of Fuuton chakra, began to spin his shakujo at high speeds. Moving at the speeds it was, the staff was naught but a circular blur shielding Naruto from Ren's bullets.

Even with Ren finally coming down from his brief venture into the air, Pyrrha and Naruto were being kept pinned down by his non-stop hail of bullets, something Naruto had to question. Didn't this guy ever run out of ammo?

Before Naruto could pursue any theories on Ren and his endless supply of bullets, Nora finally decided to make her appearance, the recoil of her weapon propelling her straight for him. Cursing to himself, the blond was prepared to pull out a Kawarimi no Jutsu _(Body Replacement technique)_ when, to his shock, Pyrrha appeared in front of him in burst of speed, shield raised to take the hit.

To his further surprise not only was his red headed teammate able to take the brunt of the blow, but she quickly followed it up by stomping down on the head of Nora's hammer, keeping it and it's wielder pinned there. Continuing her assault, Pyrrha tossed her shield like a deadly frisbee with Ren as its intended target.

Deciding to ask his teammate just how in the hell she was keeping the no doubt physically stronger Nora and her hammer at bay after the battle, Naruto instead took advantage of the opening she had presented to him and with a twirl of his staff and a spin of his own to get some momentum, Naruto spun out from behind Pyrrha and slammed his shakujo into a still struggling Nora.

While strength wasn't exactly Naruto's forte, that didn't mean he was a slouch either. He was by no means anywhere near Tsunade or maybe even Nora's level of strength, but he could still pack a shallow when he needed to. Having near an ocean's worth of chakra to empower his strikes also helped.

Still Pyrrha and even Nora were a little surprised when the hammer wielding girl was not only hit with enough force to send her away from her weapon, but also send her flying through the air.

Ren had managed to dodge Pyrrha's thrown shield with relative ease, although to do so he had to sacrifice his ability to provide cover fire for Nora. Still he could resume doing so and possibly aid her when he landed on the floor in a few seconds. That plan was promptly thrown out the window when, with wide eyes, he saw Naruto smack Nora like a baseball and send her flying straight towards him.

Seeing as Naruto and Pyrrha had the better hand with Nora now without her weapon, Ren decided to toss his twin pistols to the side and catch his childhood friend in his arms.

Both Naruto and Pyrrha winced when Ren painfully collided with the ground with Nora in his arms. Thankfully he wouldn't suffer more than a bruise and some soreness thanks to his timely use of Aura and the fact that he had only been a few yards high by the time he had caught Nora.

A few minutes later a dazed Nora and a sore Ren were seated opposite to Naruto and Pyrrha in the stands of the training field, taking a much deserved break. While the two childhood friends looked a little worse for wear, they still looked ready for another round. Pyrrha meanwhile had only worked up a slight sweat while Naruto wasn't even winded.

Still he was enjoying the slight respite and decided it was a good time to question Pyrrha about how she had managed to keep Nora at bay with just her leg, "Hey Pyrrha. I know you're strong but how in the world were you able to keep Nora and her hammer down like that?"

Nora only turned to give her female teammate a curious look, just as curious as Naruto was, "Yeah! It was like Magnhild had grown like a thousand times heavier or something!" Seeing Naruto's questioning look, Nora answered, "Magnhild is the name of my hammer!"

Turning to Ren with the same look, the raven haired teen answered, "My weapons are named Storm Flower."

Satisfied Naruto and the rest of team NNPR turned their gazes back to Pyrrha. A little embarrassed at their intense looks the red head saw no harm in revealing her secret to her teammates, "I used my Semblance. It allows me to control anything metal so all I had to do was magnetize Nora's hammer and have it be pulled towards the ground."

Naruto whistled in appreciation of such a powerful Semblance. In a world where near everything used metal and where almost every opponents weapon was also made of the metallic material, such an ability could be devastating. Seeing as how, instead of relying heavily on it, Pyrrha used it only to help her when she needed it Naruto grew even more respect for his red headed teammate as a fighter.

Most Shinobi, hell most warriors in general, would far too often rely on a skill or ability that made them unique. Back in the Elemental Countries the most prominent people like this were those who had a Kekkai Genkai _(Bloodline Limit)_. Sure having something like the Sharingan _(Copy Wheel Eye)_, the Kekkai Genkai of the Uchiha clan, which allowed the user to predict an opponent's movements, entrance them with a single moment of eye contact, or even copy their own moves after only seeing it once was a great tool, but take it away and most Uchiha were practically useless.

Pyrrha on the other hand knew very well how to fight without her Semblance which made her all the more deadly when she did decide to use it.

Naruto was taken from his thoughts though when Pyrrha turned the tables on him and asked her question that had been bugging her and a lot of other people as well.

"By the way Naruto, how is it that you're able to pull your weapon out of plain scroll?"

Sheepishly chuckling Naruto knew he was even for a long chat. Then again all he had to do was pass off it off as a sort of byproduct of his Semblance...right?

* * *

(1) Baklava is a traditional pie kind of Greek food...according to Google. I figured with Pyrrha being based off of Achilles her favorite food should be Greek in nature.

**AN: **I apologize for the rather rough start with the chapter. Literally had to force myself to put down Pokemon Omega Ruby to type this chapter out. Luckily after a break of reading some fanfics and what not I felt a little more inspired and got into a groove of writing.

Well this week is somewhat hectic for me and my pseudo beta reader so you'll have to forgive me for any grammar slip ups and such. I tried my best to pick the big ones out with a cursory reading.

Just a quick question for the readers! After re-watching both Volumes 1 and 2 and checking the wiki, I realized that neither Nora nor Ren had been given a proper Semblance. We've seen Ren use his Aura, but we still haven't seen him or Nora specifically use their Semblance.

As such here's the deal. I can either a) pass it off until Monty decides to grace us with such knowledge or b) using who they're based off of, come up with my own Semblance for them.

Seeing as how Nora is based on Thor, her's would have something to do with either lightning/thunder or strength, seeing as Thor's other powers in Norse mythology are a little bit of a stretch, especially when concerned with Mjolnir.

With Ren being based on Hua Mulan I'm at a bit of a loss with what to do with his Semblance seeing how the only Mulan story I'm familiar with is the Disney version. Maybe I'll find something interesting in the original story, who knows.

Review or pm with what you guys think!

Other than that hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Questions, concerns, or comments? Leave a review. Burning question you want answered ASAP? Shoot me a pm.

Until the next chapter!

Peace

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...

...

Wait for it

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OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTT


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **I'm back biznitches! If you're wondering where I've been for the past...month or so let me just say college finals are a bitch. That and having to be a responsible adult and get a job now that I'm twenty was a thing. Thanks to the steady flow of income though I was able to finally buy a Wii U with which I got Bayonetta 2. Suffice it to say I've been swamped these past few weeks

All that said I'm done with my semester and only have to worry about work so I am once again free to resume my writings...on my days off...when I can...

In RWBY news HOLY FUCK THE VOLUME 2 SOUNDTRACK. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. Not a fan of the slower songs, but Die, Sacrifice, Caffeine, Shine, and the Time To Say Goodbye remix are just fan-fucking-tastic. I've been setting time aside each day to just try and figure out the guitar parts to the songs and they're so much fun to noodle over.

In story related news: the only critique I got was from my fellow Naruto x RWBY author, SilverFoxSage which dealt with the whole Naruto and Weiss scene. Personally I feel it didn't divulge all that much and Naruto as a character was always the first to shoot his mouth off. He's also never been one to brood over shit, even his fucked up childhood and what not. As for not referring to Pyrrha's weapons, I was doing it on purpose. She hadn't yet said the names of her weapon and so I figured it'd only make sense to wait until she did, like how I did with Nora and Ren. The same will go for every character really.

I will say this about the Naruto Weiss scene though, it was an odd thing to write and possibly one of my most rewritten. The end product that you all read was far and away from what I had originally started out with.

Nonetheless thanks for the review and it was pretty cool to see the author who piqued my interest in the Naruto x RWBY idea take an interest in my story.

As for Nora and Ren's semblance, the general thought seems to be that Nora gets super strength and Ren gets superior control over his Aura. I really don't want to wait for Monty to reveal the canon for it, so if it ends up contradicting with the RWBY canon...fuck it its fanfiction haha.

Enough of my rambling. I know (from all the pms) you guys have been waiting for this so here's the latest chapter!

Curtains up bitches!

* * *

_(Last chapter!)_

_"By the way Naruto, how is it that you're able to pull your weapon out of a plain scroll?"_

_Sheepishly chuckling Naruto knew he was in for a long chat. Then again all he had to do was pass it off as a sort of by product of his "Semblance"...right?_

* * *

_(This chapter!)_

"Well that has to do with my Semblance actually," Naruto replied with his goofy grin, attempting to brush of his teammate's inquisitive states.

Still not satisfied with the vague answer given, Pyrrha decided to push the issue, "I remember you mentioning your Semblance in the forest. You also said that your Semblance was what let you shoot out that fireball. What kind of Semblance do you have that it lets you do all of that?"

Ren and Nora decided to stay quiet, just as curious as Pyrrha was to find out what exactly their leader's unique Semblance was. After all a Semblance that let you shoot fireballs out of your mouth and store a weapon in a simple scroll was just unheard of.

Naruto's nervously rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled, "Well my Semblance is actually pretty simple, it pretty much lets me control energy in its purest form."

The silent raven haired teen of the group was surprisingly the one to speak up, "That sounds like my Semblance. Mine lets me have almost perfect control over my Aura."

The blond team captain shook his head as he leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, "No mine goes a step further than that and let's me mold my Aura in anyway I want. From there I can either use it in my body or let it out in elemental attacks or whatever else I want it to do."

While it seemed like Naruto was perfectly calm explaining/lying to his teammates, inwardly he was sweating up a storm, _'Where the hell is Kurama when I need him the most?'_

* * *

While Naruto was being questioned by his curious teammates, a certain Kitsune was partaking in one of his favorite pastimes, that of course being napping. Naruto was a big boy and could take care of himself, and the thousands of years old chakra construct was sure that his blond Jinchuuriki could handle anything this new world could throw at him. Besides that, if a situation did arise in which Naruto needed him, Kurama could easily teleport to his container thanks to their connection.

With that in mind Kurama had decided to stay in the room Naruto shared with his new teammates and snooze the day away. Just because the blond had to suffer through those boring lessons didn't mean he, the mightiest of the Bijuu, had to. Such tasks were below a being of his stature and prestige after all.

However the universe seemed to take as much joy in torturing the fox as it did his blond container.

"FOXY!"

The door to team NNPR's room was violently thrown open with enough force to crack the wall it slammed into. With an irritated scowl spreading across his furry face, Kurama saw the ones who had the audacity to interrupt his precious napping.

Standing proudly in the doorway with fists on hips was the blonde bombshell Yang, obviously the one who had opened the door in such a harsh manner. Peeking out from behind the statuesque team member of RWBY was the youngest member and said team's leader, Ruby.

"Yang, I don't think Naruto and his team would appreciate having their door torn off its hinges," the red themed teen said.

Poking her head over Yang's shoulder, Blake spoke in her usual monotone, "I'd normally agree but remember this is Naruto and Nora we're talking about."

The three were pushed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs as Weiss shoved her way into the doorway with her arms crossed and her signature holier than thou look on her face.

"I still don't get why you two think that idiot will be able to help us."

As the rest of team RWBY stood to their feet and straightened out their clothes, they all took notice of a very irritated looking fox kit glaring at them almost like it was barely restraining itself from killing them...which wasn't too far off from the truth, not that they knew that.

_'Can't. Kill. Vixens. Can't. Kill. Vixens,' _was the mantra Kurama was repeating in his head. The only one allowed to interrupt his naps without good reason was Naruto and even then the blond knew the Kitsune would eventually get him back for it.

"Hey, that's Naruto's pe-," Ruby took note of the fox's growling growing even louder, daring her to call it a pet, "umm...I mean partner, Kurama."

Normally Yang would have already been trying to smother the poor fox to death, but the look it was currently sending towards her and the others said that probably wasn't a good idea, lest she want to test just how strong the small fox really was.

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the fox and spoke aloud, "That's odd. Isn't he usually with Naruto?"

Blake, as usual, was the voice of reason, "He probably left him here to rest or something, after all it's not like any of our classes call for Naruto needing his help."

Being either the bravest, or dumbest, it was up to debate really, Ruby approached the still less than happy looking fox. At the edge of what she assumed to be Naruto's bed, Ruby crouched and looked the fox straight in the eye, "Do you know where we can find Naruto?"

Kurama raised an eyebrow and lost his angry visage as he surveyed the young female before him, _'Gotta hand it to her, she's almost as stupidly brave as the kit. Of course he confronted me when I was still several stories tall, but still her other teammates are wary of me even in this form.'_

With a huff Kurama turned and hopped down off of Naruto's bed before he padded his way over to where Naruto kept his notes and such. Most of them were in their native language or seal arrays and such so no one besides Naruto, himself, and possibly the cat of team RWBY could decipher them. Still Naruto was nothing if not a properly paranoid Shinobi and so most of the notes were of things that were all relatively harmless. The more dangerous seals and other items were kept either on Naruto or locked behind seals that required the blond's blood and chakra to open.

The four teen girls stared in curiosity as they witnessed arguably one of the smartest animals they had ever seen rummage through piles of paper with an almost bored look. They were even more curious when the fox seemed to find what it was looking for, gently placing a particular piece of paper in its jaws before jumping back up on the bed where Ruby sat. Padding its way to the young girl in red, Kurama placed the piece of paper on Ruby's lap before resuming his spot on a pillow and attempting to finish his nap.

Kurama was pleasantly surprised though when Ruby gently patted his head, "Thanks Kurama."

The Kyuubi stared at what he considered to be a rather strange girl before shrugging and curling up into a ball again.

_'Kit always attracts the strange ones. Seems that old proverb is as true as ever, 'birds of a feather flock together'...mmmmm...bird sounds pretty good.'_

Ruby joined the rest of her team with paper in hand and was greeted by her grinning sister, "So what's it say little sis?"

Looking at the paper Ruby spoke, "Looks like it's a receipt or something."

Snatching the paper from a protesting Ruby, Weiss scanned it before shrugging, "It's a ticket from the school for a reserved time slot for one of the practice arenas the school has."

"To the practice arenas!" Yang shouted as she performed a rather well executed about face and made to speed off in search of her fellow blonde.

Blake casually grabbed the back of Yang's jacket collar, stopping the hyperactive girl in her steps, "Beacon has quite a few arenas spread out around the campus and we don't know which one Naruto and his team are in. I don't care to spend the better part of my day searching for it either."

Nonplussed by her raven haired teammate's actions, Yang just turned to Weiss and pointed a finger at the Schnee heiress, "Weiss! Hit me with the arena number!"

Rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration Weiss nonetheless read through the paper before shaking her head, "Doesn't say for which arena this is."

Kurama's ears twitched as he listened in on team RWBY attempting to hash out a plan to find Naruto before day's end. An idea popped into his head as he continued to listen. Soon that idea became something that had the fox grinning from ear to ear as his eyes glinted mischievously.

Coming out of his attempted nap the strongest of the Bijuu casually padded to the end of the bed before making a leap and landing softly on Ruby's shoulder, surprising the other members of the team. As far as they knew Naruto was the only one the fox would allow to carry him or even liked to be around.

Using his tail Kurama pointed at the piece of paper he had previously handed to Ruby, then back to himself.

The gesture's meaning wasn't lost on the members of team RWBY. Of course Kurama was more than capable of human speech, even in this form. He is the fearsome and insanely powerful Kyuubi after all. But no one besides his container knew that, and as far as he and said blond Uzumaki were concerned, they were the only ones who needed to know.

"Are we really gonna let a fox be our GPS system?" Weiss asked incredulously. To most normal people the idea of letting a fox of all things, no matter how intelligent it seemed, lead them was a rather ridiculous idea.

Of course the word normal wasn't exactly in Ruby or Yang's vocabulary and Blake didn't seem too bothered by the idea either.

Throwing her hands up in frustration Weiss conceded to letting Kurama lead them as their pseudo navigator. As team RWBY cheered they missed the mischievous smirk that spread across Kurama's snout.

_'No one interrupts one of my naps and gets away with it.'_

* * *

"So by molding your Aura in certain areas of your body or molding it in a specific way you can do pretty much anything thanks to your Semblance?" Pyrrha inquired.

Shrugging casually, Naruto responded, "Yeah that about sums it up."

"Wait but how does that explain the whole scroll thingy? Is it like a magic trick? Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" Nora paused as a look of realization dawned on her face, "that's it isn't it!? You're a magician!"

Even Naruto found himself sweat dropping at the oddness that had just come out of his childish teammate's mouth. He had heard and seen some weird stuff, a good chunk of which was thanks to the Snake Mistress of Konoha, but Nora was quickly climbing his list of odd people.

"Uh...no Nora...I'm not a magician…"

The orange haired hammer wielder pouted impudently like a child who had been told she couldn't get candy or a toy from the store while they shopped.

Getting over the giggles that had come due to her teammate's previous statement and the mental picture of Naruto in a top hat, Pyrrha added, "Nora is right though, how does your Semblance let you do that?"

Scratching his head Naruto decided that he could trust his team with at least a half lie, "Well actually my Semblance only plays a small part in that. See back in my village we were taught from a young age how to use our Aura and then how to better control it before we were ever taught how to use our Semblance. Because of that some people were able to figure out how to use that control to use our Aura in a different way. Those ways soon branched out and became what we called Ninshu or the Shinobi Sect. What I do with scrolls is a branch of Ninshu called Fuinjutsu or Sealing Techniques. The closest thing I can compare it to is Weiss and her glyphs, but even then that is only a small part of what Fuinjutsu can do."

The intrigue and awe the other members of team NNPR felt as Naruto divulged what could possibly be considered village secrets was clearly visible on each of their faces. Even Nora who could barely sit still for two seconds looked to be enraptured by her blond captain and his lecture.

Wanting to hear even more the red head of the team voiced her curiosity, "What do you mean? What else could this fun...foo...fuin?" Taking note of Naruto's nod at her proper pronunciation of the foreign word Pyrrha continued, "What else can it do?"

The blond Uzumaki let out a sigh as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling that stretched above him, "Fuinjutsu is actually unique, because unlike the other branches of Ninshu that have some sort of set of requirements, anyone can learn Fuinjutsu. It just takes patience, perfect handwriting, and imagination. Because of this Fuinjutsu is both the most accessible and most varied and powerful branch of Ninshu. A master of Fuinjutsu could do anything from simply sealing away a weapon to distorting time and space itself. The possibilities are pretty much endless."

Pyrrha couldn't help herself and blurted out the first thought that had popped into her mind, "Are you a master?"

Naruto laughed, not only at Pyrrha's curiosity, but also at the dumbfounded looks that both Nora and even the normally stoic Ren wore.

"Sadly no. I never got to fully finish my apprenticeship, but I am only about two levels away from being able to call myself a master."

Getting up and stretching Naruto grinned at his teammates, "So I think we've wasted enough time sitting around. One more little spar and we call it a day?"

Nora was the first to her feet, having leapt up into the air and cheered, "Yay!"

Ren was the opposite to his friend and calmly rose, showing all of the grace he possibly could in such a simple action. Gathering his twin pistols that Naruto now knew were called Stormflower, the calm raven haired teen nodded at his fellow male teammate.

Pyrrha gathered her own weapons and strapped her shield on to her back before offering Naruto a smile and confident nod.

Feeling a little more comfortable around his team after his explanation on one of his specialties, Naruto decided to show off a little bit by performing a perfect backflip over the railing of the stands, landing perfectly on his feet. Nora, the ever hyper teen she was, happily followed suit by leaping over the railing, Magnahild sitting on her shoulder and a cry of excitement escaping her lips.

Seeing the smiles and laughs that Naruto and Nora were having down below, Pyrhha decided to join in on the little bit of fun by performing a single handed handstand on the railing, tilting her body in such a way that soon after she was gracefully falling to the ground below, feet first.

With her ponytail fluttering in the wind and spear in hand, Pyrrha managed to look simultaneously beautiful and deadly, a thought that had Naruto blushing. As the red headed beauty landed in a crouch, both fists on the ground and her head held down, it gave Pyrrha the look of not a teen girl still training but of a full fledged warrior ready for battle.

While Pyhrra rose to her feet, Ren leapt down to meet with his teammates in a much more subdued manner, merely vaulting over the railing of the stands and landing without a sound.

Nodding at the raven haired teen, Naruto addressed his fellow teammates, "Well I guess the only combination left for us to try out is me and Nora against you two."

While Naruto smirked at being paired up with his fellow hyperactive team member, both Ren and Pyrrha looked noticeably put out by the inevitable matchup.

Honestly the blond couldn't blame them. Nothing against Pyrrha and Ren as warriors, but them winning was just not all that likely. Both Nora and Naruto operated on the same principal and style of fighting - go in and fuck shit up. Naruto had added more to his repertoire and was much more careful with his planning and such since Kurama had been helping to train him, but he was still very much so a frontlines heavy hitter, even without the use of his signature jutsu. Nora was much the same, admittedly with a much smaller arsenal.

The two had much more stamina than most and were also extremely unpredictable. Ren and Pyrrha relied too heavily on a more rigid style of fighting than Nora and Naruto, and that would be a detriment to them.

Still Naruto knew that neither Ren or Pyrrha would simply give up. No the two were going to try and make their hyperactive teammates work for their victory.

Scratching his head, Naruto raised a question that had been bugging him for awhile, "Hey Pyrrha!"

The redhead in question turned to silently acknowledge her captain's call.

"I know Ren and Nora's weapon names, but what's yours?"

Smiling at what she knew to be her blond captain's curious face, marked by Naruto squinting his eyes and crossing his arms, Pyrrha answered, "My shield is named Akoúo and my main weapon is Miló."

Nodding his head and with his curiosity satiated, Naruto made to make his way to where Nora was already getting ready for the spar. However Pyrrha decided to ask a question of her own, "What about your weapon Naruto?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared at his staff for a scant few seconds, seemingly lost in his own memories, before snapping out of it and twirling the shakujo casually as he answered, "Hi no Ishi."

Knowing that names played a significant role in Naruto's home, Pyrrha was curious to know the meaning of the staff's name and voiced as much.

The blond gave one last reminiscent smile at his weapon before answering, "It means 'The Will of Fire'."

Still curious as to the significance of such a name and why Naruto seemed so attached to it, Pyrrha decided to wait until she could get Naruto alone, knowing how secretive the blond could be.

Besides that, it looked like Nora was growing even more impatient by the second, noted by her increased fidgeting. An impatient Nora was a hilariously dangerous Nora.

Finally, as each pair stared the other down from opposite sides of the field, the air of battle began to permeate the air. Of course the feel of it was far different from the battles Naruto had gone through. Those battles where each side wagered not money or an imaginary point, but instead bet their very lives, pride, and convictions.

This was not even comparable. Sure the other members of team NNPR had no doubt seen death already, living in a world where humans were forced into settlements where the fear of death by the creatures of Grimm were very much so a reality.

But there was a key difference. When it came down to it, it was easy for the people of Remnant to peg the Grimm as naught, but mindless beasts of murder, which wasn't too far from the truth. As such killing them was simply a task, like hunting for food.

Naruto however was different. He had seen and lived through war. He knew the difference in battle when your enemy was not some beast or some other quarry, but a human, a human with emotions, feelings, dreams, and aspirations just like you.

This spar was not even close to that feeling of knowing that with the slightest misstep your very existence would cease to be.

And for that Naruto smiled. As he felt his chakra begin to course through his body in that familiar warmth, as he heard Nora yell in excitement, Naruto smiled.

_'Maybe coming here wasn't a bad thing after all.'_

Sharing a look with Nora, Naruto's smile went from being just that, a simple smile, and instead became the cocky grin he was known for back in his youth.

"Let's do this -ttebayo!"

* * *

All of team NNPR sighed in relief as they turned down the hallway that housed their room, all members - even the stamina monster Naruto - were tired and bruised all over and could not wait to embrace the soft comfort of their beds.

Of course their relief became raised eyebrows as they entered the room and saw that the wall behind the door bore slight cracks in the dry wall as if someone had slammed the door open in a fit of fury.

Shrugging off the oddity of the cracked wall, the four teens decided that their fatigue and need for a shower far outweighed any curiosity they held about said mystery.

Despite it being just a few minutes into sundown, the team had managed to cram as much as they could into the the two hour slot that Naruto had reserved for them. Thanks to the intense pace Naruto had set for them, the team was able to get a better handle on how to not only work as a group of four, but also pairs.

The pairing of Nora and Nauto, aptly nicknamed Disaster, was obviously the frontlines duo responsible for either taking out numerous enemies or providing a distraction for the backup pair of Pyrrha and Ren which was named Rose.

What surprised the rest of team NNPR was how devastating of a combo Ren and Naruto made. The two male teens could work perfectly as a stealth unit, what with Naruto's shinobi training and Ren's own grace and agility, or a quick strike unit capable of unleashing untold amounts of destruction before disappearing. Thanks to this the duo were nicknamed Bolt Flower.

The two females of NNPR were the backup to Bolt Flower and worked as a solid all around unit by themselves, capable of either fighting on the frontlines or providing covering fire. That in mind, the two girls had decided to name their formation simply, Queen.

Of course all of the battle strategy that they had spent the past two hours going over was the furthest thing from any of the teen's mind instead being replaced by thoughts of food, showers, and sleep.

As an unspoken agreement, Naruto, Ren, and Nora collapsed onto their beds while Pyrrha took the first shower.

As the sounds of the shower being turned on became the only background noise in the room, Nora having already decided to take a nap and Ren quietly being...Ren, Naruto rolled over and sat up, scratching his head as he realized that a certain Kitsune was oddly absent.

The blond Uzumaki wasn't particularly worried about Kurama himself, being more concerned for anybody with the unfortunate luck of being stuck with the troublesome Bijuu _(Tailed Beast)_. After having spent the literal entirety of his seventeen years of life with the fox, Naruto knew that wherever the Kitsune was, trouble was not too far off, if the sentient chakra construct was already causing it.

Shrugging it off Naruto decided that food would be a good idea to have when his team was showered and ready to either finish whatever homework they had or sleep like he planned.

That in mind the blond rolled off his bed and decided to venture off to the cafeteria to see what was available. Hopefully Remnant's advanced technology extended into the food area as well and he could just simply grab his teammate's favorite foods without any fuss. Having ramen would just be a huge plus really.

Much to the blond's relief the cafeteria was just as technologically advanced as every other area of Beacon which meant not only could he get his teammate's favorite food, but he could also indulge himself in the sweet sweet food of the gods, ramen.

But now came the had part, carrying all the food. Normally the solution to such a situation would be easily solved by the quick use of a jutsu that he had abused as a preteen. However seeing two of the same people walking the halls would be weird and would raise questions Naruto didn't want to answer.

If Naruto were in the right state of mind he would realize that he had plenty of other jutsu to help to keep his identity as a shinobi hidden. However said blond was far from the right state of mind. Tired, hungry, and with the worry that his precious ramen was getting colder with each passing second, Naruto's higher thinking faculties were otherwise preoccupied.

None of the other students who occupied the cafeteria thought to mention to the blond staring heatedly at the plates of food in front of him that there was an even simpler solution to his conundrum in the form of the food carts that sat not feet away. Really though it wasn't their fault as said students really had no clue as to what Naruto's problem even was in the first place and instead just passed him off as another one of the many oddballs who called Beacon home.

The importance of this was to not only illustrate the level of Naruto's fatigue and love of ramen, but to also allow for the perfect timing of a certain Kitsune to come bursting through the doors of the cafeteria with a less than happy looking team RWBY hot on his tail.

Each of the girls had leaves and twigs littering their hair with small tears and cuts on their clothing. All in all it looked like they had gotten into a fight with a tree and lost.

Even still it wasn't the commotion that was caused by Kurama and team RWBY's less than quiet entrance that snapped Naruto out of his almost meditative state of mind, but the feeling of a familiar weight settling around his shoulders.

Coming back to the waking world, Naruto turned his head and saw Kurama had taken his usual perch on the blond's shoulders and was grinning like he had just finished eating the tastiest rabbit ever.

Naruto's attention was finally drawn to the four disheveled and angry females standing behind him. Even in his current state of mind, it was ridiculously easy for the Uzumaki to connect the dots, leading to him giving Kurama a deadpan stare.

"Do I need to put you back in the cage?"

Team RWBY wondered what a simple cage would do to a less than normal fox, but if the fearful look that crossed the Kitsune's face was anything to by then said punishment was probably the worst thing that the troublesome fox could experience. Of course while the girls thought Naruto meant a normal cage, Kurama knew full well that his container was talking about putting his furry ass back inside the seal that had kept him behind bars for sixteen years.

Not only was the space behind said bars small, but Naruto's mindscape hadn't changed in the slightest and was still the dimly lit, damp sewer it had always been. Admittedly it was far better than the seal his previous container, Naruto's own mother, had used, Kurama had very much so grown used to having a vast majority of his freedom back. The past year was the first in near a hundred years that the fox was able to freely roam and stretch.

He had been stuck inside his first Jinchuuriki, Mito Uzumaki, for close to a hundred years where said Uzumaki had kept him immobile with the use of seals. That wasn't so bad, but she didn't even let him scratch any itches that popped up and that shit is not fun.

Then there was Naruto's mother, Kushina, who had kept him chained to a massive fucking slab of rock with her chakra chains. Not only was he still unable to scratch any itches, she had the nerve to crucify him, pinning his limbs and tails down to the slab and there he had stayed for almost twenty years.

While severely pissed when he found himself sealed into yet another Uzumaki, Kurama was grateful that at least Naruto's seal let him scratch any itches he had and didn't involve having sharp pointing things stabbed into his body.

But Kurama was nothing if not vain and as such he took pride in his lustrous fur. The moisture in the sewer that was Naruto's mind was hell on his fur and it had taken months to remedy the damage done to it.

There was no way in hell Kurama was voluntarily going back in that cramped hellhole.

Naruto knew all of this and enjoyed using the threat of the seal on the normally high and mighty Kitsune.

However team RWBY had gone through things they didn't want to discuss in pursuit of the fox and so were not satisfied with just scaring Kurama.

Stalking over to her fellow blond, Yang invaded Naruto's personal space bubble and vehemently spoke, "Foxy, if you know what's good for you you'll hand over that evil ball of fur. Right. Now."

Naruto looked between the angry visage of Yang and Kurama trying to be as cute as was possible and weighed his options. On one hand Kurama was an important part of his life and had grown to become something of a close friend within the past year or so. On the other hand Yang was a girl he had known for only a few days. However if there was one thing Naruto had learned in his seventeen years of life it was this; when a girl is angry and you have a way to make her happy or appease that anger, you better damn well do it if you want to live.

Shrugging Naruto spoke, "Sorry buddy, Yang scares me more than you do."

Grabbing Kurama by the scruff of his neck, Naruto tossed the crying fox to a maliciously grinning Ruby and Weiss. Yang's once angry face became her usual cheeky grin and she addressed Naruto, "Aww, you know just what to say to a girl."

The buxom blonde offered Naruto a flirtatious wink before walking off to join the rest of her team in exacting revenge.

Naruto offered a quick prayer to Kami, asking that Kurama retain his sanity and the will power to survive the wrath of four angry teen females.

The blond male was surprised when he turned around to see Pyrrha standing just behind him with a curious look on her face. No doubt she had just seen the last of the exchange between Naruto and team RWBY and was wondering what had happened to lead up to the odd scene she had walked in on.

Naruto just shook his head and patted the red head on her shoulder, "It's best if you don't know."

That only raised more questions in Pyrrha's mind, but looking at the way the normally stoic Blake was grinning like the cat who had caught the canary as she and the others left, the deadly beauty of team NNPR agreed that maybe it was best she didn't know.

Switching topics, Naruto decided to ask the question of why Pyrrha was in the cafeteria as well.

The red head smiled and replied, "Well Ren said you had come to get us some food, but that was a half hour ago so I figured you might need some help carrying up all the food."

Naruto chuckled nervously only now realizing how long he had been standing there "concentrating".

"Whoops?"

Pyrhha giggled at her friend and captain before gesturing at the carts that sat in the corner, "It's fine, but let's grab a cart and head up to the room. I don't think Nora can go any longer without her pancakes."

Knowing that denying Nora her pancakes was like denying him his ramen, Naruto agreed and grabbed a cart before helping Pyrrha to pile the food on top of it.

As the two teens made their way back to their room, Pyrrha decided to sate her curiosity over Naruto and his weapon.

"Hey Naruto?"

Hearing his name, the blond turned and acknowledged Pyrrha with a nod, wondering what she was going to ask him now. Part of him already knew she was going to ask him some question that had to due with his past or something with how frequently they had those kind of conversations.

It wasn't a bad thing really and they often talked about other random things on the way to class or during their down time, but anytime Pyrrha saw him fight or he vaguely mentioned something about his home, the red head would eventually come to him with questions.

Not that he minded at all. It felt good to talk about Konoha and his friends with someone who was genuinely interested in him and what he had to say.

"Well I know you said that names meant a lot back in your home village so I was wondering why you named your weapon The Will of Fire."

Naruto smiled as he almost immediately lost himself in memories at hearing the phrase that had shaped and given birth to his childhood dream, a dream he had before he even truly understood what it meant.

"In my home village we had this...philosophy that each of our warriors fought and died for, the belief that their sacrifices were not in vain. Our leader, the Hokage, was supposed to be the epitome of this, they were to see the entire village as one big family - their family. Growing up an oprhan, well the one thing I always wanted was a family and what better family could you have than your entire home village?"

Pyrrha couldn't help, but to grow even more respect for Naruto. He had aspired to become the leader of his home, not out of an attempt for more power or authority, but because he wanted to have a family, he wanted to have a reason to fight. Of course it was hard to miss the almost factual manner in which Naruto admitted to his having grown up an oprhanIt seemed that because of this Will of Fire, Naruto understood what it meant to be a great and compassionate leader.

She was surprised though when Naruto continued further, delving deeper into his past.

"But my godfather taught me a different part to the Will of Fire. He believed that not only could it make Konoha a safe and amazing place for all people, but that by spreading the Will of Fire, through loving each other, peace would be possible."

It was this statement that made Pyrrha pause in her steps, shocked at not just what her blond friend said, but also the conviction with which he said it. Turning to look at Naruto, Pyrhha was awed by not only the sheer belief Naruto put into those words, but also at her own thoughts that maybe this young man - who was brash, unpredictable, and most often a goofball - could pull it off.

Peace was something that almost all Hunters and Huntresses strode for, in some small capacity, whether that peace be peace with one's self or with those around you. Pyrhha was no different. However it was clear that Naruto wasn't aiming for something like that. No he was aiming for something on a much larger scale.

And some small part of her actually believed Naruto was fully capable of achieving that.

Coming back to her senses, Pyrrha realized that they had managed to make it back to their room without anything odd occuring.

She giggled though when she saw how childishly excited Naruto looked as he hurriedly opened the door and plopped himself down with his several bowls of ramen. It was amazing how quickly the blond could go from speaking with the charisma and passion of a leader who fully believed in their cause to being the goofball he usually was.

Grabbing her own plate of food, Pyrrha joined the rest of her team as they chatted, a smile on her face as she allowed her mind to have one last thought on the topic, _'And I wouldn't want it any other way.'_

* * *

**AN: **So...hey...yea...been awhile huh? One could say its been a year since my last update...I'm sorry...

Ok so I admit that this chapter is far from my usual. Think of it as my way of saying yes both I and this fic are still alive.

On that note I will say that at the time of this being uploaded I'm already beginnning work on the next chapter which I promise will be a return to the usual. I already have some future events planned and I am super hyped to return to writing this story after such a long break.

For those who are curious where I dissapeared to, retail during the christmas/new years season is fucking bonkers. Also Bayonetta (1 and 2) is addictive as hell. Haven't had so much fun with a game in a long while and I'm glad I picked Bayonetta as my way to get back into console gaming.

Enough of that though. Next chapter will be longer, more action packed, and just better - I promise! Also it won't take me like 2 months to finish it! I am now getting into the habit of setting aside a few hours a day to actually work on just writing so hopefully that will make you guys happy.

Happy late Christmas or whatever the fuck yall celebrate and a happy new years as well. Hope you guys had a great one.

Until the next chapter!

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE

out


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **Told you guys that this chapter would be out much faster!

I've not much else to say really other than it was great to see that there was still a lot of interest in the story. Was also pretty surprised to see the review count climb by like 40 or so just from a, in my opinion, rather lack luster chapter. The point was raised that its good to have a break in all the action and drama so maybe I'll use those breaks to either add in some comedy like I did with last chapter.

In that sense you guys can expect the occasional sort of omake chapter every now and again.

Let's get it rolling!

* * *

When Naruto had first come to Remnant he had no idea that there would be an almost entirely different form of human life that coexisted alongside the "normal" humans. Said race of humans were called Faunus. For the most part these Faunus looked and functioned like any other human, except the fact that they bore animalistic features. These features ranged from being a simple pair of cat ears to having the claws, eyes, and tail of a dog.

However the differences between human and Faunus were not merely cosmetic. Faunus exhibited traits similar to the animal they looked like. Those with canine features had a sharper sense of smell and hearing while those of the feline family had enhanced eye sight and agility.

Coming from the Elemental Countries where there were families of people who could use their own bones as weapons, expand any portion of their body at will, or had a colony of bugs literally living inside of them - well needless to say Naruto wasn't impressed.

Naruto himself bore some animalistic features due to being in the womb of his mother while she housed the soul of Kurama and then having said Bijuu _(Tailed Beast) _trapped inside his own body. Of course his features were hardly noticeable with the whisker marks that marred his cheeks being the only immediately visible difference.

It was when Naruto channeled Kurama's chakra that the features became more noticeable. With the influence of the Kitsune's unique energy flowing through him Naruto's normally blue eyes would become a bloody crimson with his pupils becoming slits like that of a fox's. His nails would sharpen and grow in length, becoming knife like claws. To top it all off the whisker marks on his cheeks would thicken and become even more noticeable.

Being the container for a Bijuu marked Naruto as a Jinchuuriki _(Power of the Human Sacrifice)_ and to some this meant he wasn't exactly human himself. Years ago he had struggled with this concept, refusing to believe that he was different from the "normal" people. Of course in the shinobi world where walking on water and giving the laws of nature and psychics the finger was a daily occurrence, "normal" was a loose term.

Still the civilians of Konoha who had seen the fearsome and destructive power that was an angered Bijuu feared and hated Naruto, not being able to look past his title of Jinchuuriki to see the lonely orphan who only sought the love and warmth of family and friends.

Many lesser people would have crumbled under the weight of such emotions, but Naruto had only turned around and sought to make the world a better place, a place where no other person would have to go through the prejudice and hate that he had as a child.

As such it was no surprise that Naruto deeply sympathized with the Faunus of Remnant. They were like him. Treated harshly because of something they had no control over.

Normally Naruto was a fun loving person and very easy to get along with. There were few things that could truly anger him. The sight in front of him was one of those things.

A fellow first year student, a guy named Cardin from what he gathered from the whispers in the cafeteria, was publicly bullying and humiliating an older student. Simply because she was a Faunus.

Nothing angered the blond more than seeing someone pick on another simply because they looked different.

What only angered him more was seeing that nobody, not even a professor, was going to stop it.

He wasn't the only one though. The normally calm Pyrrha was tightly clutching her food tray while Nora was frowning and seemed to be debating on grabbing her hammer. Even the stoic Ren looked visibly angered by the scene.

Team RWBY was no better. Yang was clenching her fists tight enough that her knuckles were turning white and Ruby was glaring heatedly at Cardin. Weiss looked indifferent for the most part, but if one looked closely they could see her own abject disgust with the male. Blake was the most visibly angered. Her amber eyes had become slit and you could hear her almost hissing while her hair bow twitched in agitation.

As Cardin shoved the teen Faunus causing her to fall and spill her lunch, Naruto stood up, shocking those around him from their own thoughts. Before anyone from his team could stop him, the blond was gone in a blur of speed.

The next second he appeared and the series of events that followed shocked everyone watching. There Naruto was, suspended in mid air, his fist inches away from Cardin's face, while Cardin himself was being held with his hands behind his back.

The sharp sound of heels hitting the floor echoed throughout the cafeteria as Glynda Goodwitch stalked through the now silent building.

It was now clear to everyone what had happened. The female professor and Huntress had intervened at the perfect time and stopped the blond teen from giving Cardin what both teams NNPR and RWBY thought he deserved.

Naruto himself was angered deeply by the appearance of his fellow blond.

_'Tch, of course she _happens_ to intervene right when this teme was gonna get what he deserves.' _

"I hope you know that we do not condone fighting amongst students outside of the arena, Mr. Uzumaki," the buxom professor lectured as she stared straight into the angry eyes of the still suspended Naruto.

Still pissed at not only her choice of timing and words, but at Cardin as well, Naruto lashed out, "But you do condone bullying I take it? Cuz I didn't see you or any other professor here stop this jerk from attacking that girl who did nothing wrong."

Glynda almost visibly flinched at the retort, knowing that if she said the wrong thing, not only would her credibility take a hit, but so would Beacon's.

Adjusting her glasses Glynda continued in the same voice, "The situation would have been handled properly, and as such there was no need for you to intervene."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman before he scoffed and, shocking everyone - Glynda included -, flared his chakra quickly, breaking him of whatever the female professor had done to stop him.

Without even glancing back Naruto stormed out of the cafeteria, clearly less than happy about how the situation was "handled".

Shaking herself from her thoughts of the enigmatic blond, Glynda turned to Cardin and released him from her hold, "Mr. Winchester, you will be coming with me to see Mr. Ozpin to address your actions here and your subsequent punishment."

Outraged for being punished Cardin retorted with a yell, "Why!? I didn't do anything wrong! Besides what about that...idiot blond!? He should be in trouble too!"

Glynda was far from happy to have another student yell at her for the second time in a day and glared heatedly at the teen, scaring the piss out of him and a few others in the vicinity, "Do not question me Mr. Winchester. The situation with Mr. Uzumaki will be dealt with appropriately and you needn't concern yourself with it. Do I make myself clear?"

Clearly cowed by the angry visage of the imposing professor, Cardin only nodded his head.

As Cardin was led out of the cafeteria by the strict professor, the cafeteria exploded into gossip, the wheels of the rumor mill already turning.

Team NNPR and RWBY were worried for their friend, never having seen the blond teen display such anger, though none more so than Ruby and Pyrrha.

Naruto was kind enough to be Ruby's first friend at Beacon and had helped her on several occasions, most recently with the whole drama between her and Weiss. The heiress had confessed that it was the goofy blond who had really driven her to apologize to the younger girl, not only helping Ruby and Weiss, but team RWBY as a whole.

Pyrrha and Naruto had become close in the weeks since team NNPR had formed, something that was clear to anyone who saw the two together, which was quite often. The two were often seen sparring or training together, eating together, and generally looking like a couple, something the gossips of Beacon had taken great pleasure in talking about.

Clearly worried for their friend, the two teams rose and made to look for Naruto, but were stopped the voice of Blake.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Curious about what the brunette meant, Ruby turned and questioned the still seated member of team RWBY, "What do you mean Blake? You saw how angry Naruto looked!"

Arms crossed, Weiss decided to add in her own two cents, "I agree. We shouldn't just let Naruto leave like that."

The silence that ensued following Weiss' statement was near palpable.

Noticing that the group of people had gone completely silent and were all staring at her while Ruby poked her like she was some sort of freak, Weiss swatted Ruby away from her and called out, "What? Why are you all staring at me like that!?"

"Sorry, but we've never heard you call Naruto by his actual name," Ruby sheepishly responded.

The Schnee heiress' brow began to twitch in anger, "I'm not that mean am I!?"

Not wanting to anger the glyph user any more, the others instead opted to turn their attention back to Blake, also choosing to ignore Weiss' indignant cry as no one answered her question.

"What I mean is that, seeing how angry he is, Naruto probably wouldn't like having so many people crowd and interrogate him," Blake continued.

The others remained silent, none having any sort of rebuttal to the distant member of team RWBY. None of them had ever seen Naruto anywhere close to angry and had no idea how he would react to their presence. Weiss was the only one who had seen the blond team leader of NNPR in a mood other than goofy or serious, and that had been a more disappointed Naruto than an angry one.

Finally it was Pyrrha who broke the silence by rising from her seat and beginning to make her way to find Naruto, seeming to ignore Blake's words.

Surprisingly it was Ren who stopped the redhead from continuing her walk, putting his arm out in front of Pyrrha.

"I think we should listen to Blake and leave Naruto be, for now at least."

Pyrrha actually seemed lightly annoyed and it showed in her tone of voice, "I'm sorry but Blake doesn't know Naruto like I do and I think he needs his friends right now."

Lightly shoving her raven haired teammate's arm away from her, Pyrrha made to continue on her way to find her blond friend, but was again interrupted, this time by the ravenette of team RWBY, standing in her way.

"You're right, I don't know Naruto like you do, but I do know that look in his eyes. That wasn't the look of someone who wanted to talk or listen, that was the look of someone who needed to vent their frustrations in a physical manner."

For a moment neither side said anything, both young women staring into the eyes of the other, waiting to see who would concede first. Amber bore into emerald green with a silent and calm intensity, attempting to show its own unwillingness to back down in the contest of wills.

Many would have assumed that Pyrrha's concern for her friend would aid her and fuel her desire to prove Blake wrong, but it was in fact that same concern that caused her to not moments later, sigh and back down from the silent battle.

As much as she proclaimed to know Naruto better than Blake, the red head of team NNPR knew that it wasn't all that true. Sure she knew more of Naruto's past and ambitions than anyone else, as far as she knew, but at the end of the day she was just as clueless as to how Naruto functioned. She knew Naruto as the strong willed and goofy, yet deceivingly strong, warrior. As sad as it was for her to admit, Pyrrha knew only a fraction of Naruto Uzumaki, the person, something that made her all the more saddened.

She of all people knew what it was like when others judged you at face value, never bothering to get to know the person hidden behind the walls and baggage that came with life.

This was something she resolved to fix.

* * *

When the sun set and the moon rose to take its perch in the sky, Beacon Academy truly came to life. Being so far from the main city of Vale and its lights, the stars were able to show their brilliant lights. Alongside the light of the moon, the stars bathed the buildings and grounds of Beacon in a dim white light, bringing an almost ethereal feel to the atmosphere of the academy.

Many students and teachers would often venture out to any one of the higher structures of the academy and spend minutes or even hours simply enjoying the peace and tranquility that came with the blanket of Night. With the cool breeze blowing softly, many others chose to go for a jog or simply meditate, taking advantage of the crisp and clean air.

One particular blond Uzumaki found himself also partaking in Beacon's night life, laying on his back staring up at the twinkling stars, perched atop the second tallest structure situated not too far from the main lighthouse that was Beacon's namesake.

The silence that enveloped the teen and the snoozing fox on his chest was broken when Naruto spoke aloud, "Come to enjoy the view too?"

While most would think him odd for seemingly talking to himself, the figure that emerged from the shadows of the nearby stairwell entrance broke that notion. Garbed in her usual dark clothing, Blake showed no signs of being surprised that Naruto had known she was there. Still she was curious though.

"I'm surprised you knew I was there."

Still not tearing his gaze from the star filled sky, Naruto grinned and replied, "And I'm surprised at how quiet you could be with those heels on."

Blake huffed at the jab at her clothing choice causing Naruto to chuckle.

Shaking his head the blond rose to his feet, dusted his clothes off and moved Kurama to his usual spot around his neck.

"So what brings you out here at this time of night?" Naruto asked, donning his usual carefree grin.

Blake sauntered over to the edge of the building and situated herself on it, crossing her legs and leaning back as her gaze focused in on Naruto.

Naruto seemed to take it in stride and sat himself back down on the floor, meeting Blake's intense gaze with his own nonchalant one.

Neither side spoke for a moment before the raven haired female broke the little staring contest and turned her head to the side, casting her sights on the front of Beacon Academy.

"Everybody began to worry about where you had gone off to after what happened in the lunch hall. I was lucky enough to be the first to find you."

Naruto nodded his head, "So are you gonna bring them here or take me to them?"

The dark themed Huntress to be turned her eyes back on her blond companion before speaking, "I'll let them know where I found you and that you were alright as well...after I get some questions answered."

Deciding to have some fun with the stoic girl, Naruto grinned and spoke, "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

Blake's gaze went from curious to cold and deadly in the blink of an eye.

_'Does he know?'_

Deciding that it was better if she played it off, Blake continued, "Not many people would have interfered in that fight, let alone react in such an angry manner."

Still unfazed by the ravenette's cold and distant demeanor, Naruto shrugged, "I'm not 'many people'."

_'Though I could be thanks to a certain jutsu hehe,'_ the blond chuckled at his own in joke.

Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere by trying to dance around the question, Blake decided that the straightforward and blunt path would be the better option, "Why were you so angered by that fight? Being angry I could understand, but you looked downright furious, at not just that jerk Cardin, but at Professor Goodwitch as well."

Naruto sighed before turning to look up at the stars above, "One of the things I can't stand to see is someone picking on someone else, because of something they don't understand, for something that the victim can't control. That girl didn't choose to be born a Faunus. Cardin chose to be a jackass. As for why I was mad at Professor Goodwitch? Simple. She and any of the other professors could have easily put a stop to it and even stopped it from happening again in the future, but they chose not to simply because if they interfered it would have looked like they sided with the Faunus, and with the White Fang being the spokespeople for the Faunus, well it wouldn't have gone over well."

Blake couldn't help but to agree with Naruto. Even if the Faunus didn't want to be represented as a whole by the less than savory actions of the White Fang of recent years, there wasn't much they could do about it.

The White Fang had once been a group of Faunus who fought, peacefully, for equal rights for their fellow Faunus and fought to put an end to the years of discrimination against said group. There had been progress made, but it was slow going and many Faunus began to tire from the constant struggle to prove themselves. From there it all went out of control and in recent years, the White Fang had turned to violent acts of terrorism to get their point across.

Was it effective?

That was a question many asked, and none could give a solid answer to.

Because of how sensitive the topic was many people took a sort of neutral stance and chose to neither help nor hinder the discrimination and hate crimes against the Faunus.

Still what made Blake curious was Naruto's tone of voice and the words he used. He spoke like he knew personally what the Faunus were going through. It also said that he wasn't exactly a fan of the White Fang's decision to turn to fear tactics to achieve their goal.

"Why do you care so much? Usually the only people who are so invested are the Faunus themselves and you don't look any Faunus I've seen."

This was a question Naruto had prepared for the moment he had found out about Faunus and the discrimination against them. Seeing as how he was trying to keep the fact that he was a shinobi and Jinchuuriki from becoming public knowledge, he and Kurama decided to go with the perfect cover.

Naruto turned to Blake and stared her down. While normally this action wouldn't have been too surprising, what the young woman saw in Naruto's eyes caused her to gasp.

Gone were the normally bright blue eyes that usually greeted those who looked into the blond's eyes. Instead what stared into Blake's own amber eyes were twin pools of burning, vivid crimson with the slit pupils of a creature of the feline or fox family. The six marks that marred Naruto's tan cheeks were now thick lines that were visible even in the dim light of the moon and stars.

Then it hit Blake.

_'How has no one else figured it out? For goodness' sake, Yang's nickname for him is Foxy!'_

Still reeling from the small revelation, Blake only muttered a single sentence, "You're a Faunus."

Naruto grinned, showing off the sharpened canines that now poked out of his lips, "I'm surprised no else has called me on it yet."

Blake was then hit with another small epiphany. Faunus had senses far more similar to the animals they exhibited which meant that from the looks of Naruto had an enhanced sense of smell.

"You know don't you?"

Naruto shrugged casually, "What? About you being a cat Faunus? Yeah, Kurama was the one who picked up on it when we first met you. Said you reeked of cat."

The now revealed cat Faunus huffed at the jab at her smell. She was still a teen girl and very much so took pride in her appearance and being told that she "reeked of cat" was less than endearing.

Though she was distracted from the sort of insult when she noticed that Kurama had awoken and was staring at her with the same crimson eyes that were now in place of Naruto's usual sapphires.

The night seemed to be full of revelations for Blake as she now realized how connected Naruto and Kurama really were.

"You're a fox Faunus. That's how you can understand Kurama."

It wasn't unusual for Faunus to be able to communicate with the animal they were aligned to, but it wasn't exactly common either. It was usually a sign of a Faunus who was far more animalistic than they were human. Which didn't connect with Naruto. The only visible signs that showed he wasn't human were his whisker marks and eyes and it seemed like he could turn those features, sans the whiskers, on and off at will, something she had never even heard of.

Most Faunus who wanted to blend in with humans had to resort to various kinds of clothing or makeups to do so. If there was a method that Naruto could teach to others to hiding the more noticeable of features, then he would be like a prophet for many Faunus who simply wanted to live their lives without worrying about the harsh words and reactions to their being a Faunus.

"How can you hide your features like that?"

Naruto grinned and decided to give into his more foxy side, "What? Tired of the bow?"

Blake narrowed her eyes before asking another question, "How did you know?"

"Bows don't twitch, Blake," was Naruto's simple reply. Deciding to answer her other question, the blond Uzumaki continued, "As for hiding my features, I don't know. It's just something I'm able to do. Maybe it's cuz my mom was a Faunus and my dad was a human. Who knows."

There went her hopes of Naruto being able to teach such a valuable ability. Though the tid bit that Naruto was technically only a half Faunus was interesting. Couplings between Faunus and humans were almost non-existent and usually the children born of said relationships were human, never displaying any traits of their Faunus parent. Something about Faunus genes being recessive.

If what Naruto said was true then he was a unique case.

While Blake contemplated the information she had been given, Naruto gave a mental sigh of relief. While it was all a passable half truth, it was the best cover he and Kurama could come up with to explain both his whiskers and his transformation when he used Kurama's chakra. Of course that explanation would be blown to bits if anyone ever saw him actually use the Bijuu Cloak. There would be no way he could lie his way out of that one.

On the other hand the likelihood of him even using the Cloak was slim to none. He only really needed it if there was someone who outclassed him in every way, and after Kurama's training the only people who could do so were Kage level shinobi, something he doubted Remnant had.

Of course the other scenario where the Cloak would be called upon was if he was beyond furious. Again thanks to Kurama's help in better controlling his emotions, someone or something would have to make him want to rip them to shreds with his bare hands for that to be the case.

"So why do you hide your features?" Blake asked out of curiosity.

Naruto smirked as he allowed Kurama's chakra to recede back into the seal, taking with it the eyes and fangs, "Why do you?"

Blake had no answer. It was a good response.

"But the real reason is the fear. Most Faunus' features don't look all that threatening. Your cat ears and eye color aren't all that scary. Glowing red eyes and fangs? That's something out of a nightmare and the last thing I want is for people to run screaming, because I smiled."

The amber eyed teen nodded in agreement. First seeing those burning red eyes staring at her had sent a shiver of fear down her spine, like her instincts were telling her to run as far away as possible.

"So then I take it you don't want me to tell anyone else?"

Naruto shrugged as he stretched, "I don't really care if people know I'm a Faunus. If they look at me differently because of it then oh well, not much I can do. Though I will probably tell my team just because I trust them and don't think they'd care."

Blake seemed to ponder Naruto's statement before sighing. It wasn't like she didn't trust her team to not look at her any differently, it was really just her own issue with actually letting people in after everything she had been through in the past few months. She had left one life behind and was trying so hard to build a new one, one away from the lifestyle that had caused her to leave a certain group.

The young Faunus was shocked when she saw Naruto sitting next to her, never having seen him move.

"You're secret's safe with me. I know what its like to fear how the people close to you will react to something so...out of the ordinary. I will say this though, the longer you wait, the harder it'll be to explain why you hid it in the first place."

Brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Blake joined Naruto in gazing at the nighttime sky, finding herself far more calm and comfortable than she ever had before.

Odd how the most hyperactive and goofy person she knew, outside of Yang and her sister Ruby, was able to make her feel so tranquil and at peace. Another thing to add to the list of oddities that surrounded Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

The following day saw Naruto joined by the other members of team NNPR and team RWBY as they made their way to he main arena of Beacon Academy.

The night before had been surprisingly uneventful despite the "revelations" it held.

Naruto had gone ahead and told his team about his being a "Faunus" and their reactions were less than surprising. Pyrrha just smiled and told him that something like that didn't matter to her and that she would always be his friend.

Ren was not at all fazed and simply stated that it only made sense. Nora was the only really noteworthy reaction, having been curious about the marks on his cheeks from when she had first seen him. Now knowing that he was a Faunus and that the marks were actually whiskers and not just scars or odd birthmarks, Nora was tempted to pet them. And pet them she did. This of course led to all of team NNPR finding out that, like any canine or feline, Naruto's whiskers were sensitive to touch.

Being turned into a purring mess like a common house pet was something Naruto's pride would never be able to live down and Nora was more than happy to exploit this newfound "weakness". On the bright side Pyrrha had offhandedly commented that it was cute and even Ren had cracked a smile and laughed at seeing his team leader turned into putty by some light petting of the face.

Of course Team RWBY, minus a certain black cat, were curious as to what had led to all of the drama and Naruto had decided to tell about his half true secret. Blake, having already found out the night prior, was unfazed. Weiss brushed it off in her usual arrogance and said that Naruto was still just a dumb blond, a comment that earned her an angry glare from both Yang and Naruto.

Even still Naruto could see that Weiss was just being Weiss and knew that she was saying she didn't care about his not being entirely human, in her own unique way.

Ruby had given him a hug and told him that it didn't matter to her if he was a Faunus or not, he was her first friend at Beacon and that's all that mattered to her.

Yang had given him a noogie and commented that it just gave her nickname for him an even better basis.

While not exactly being the complete truth, Naruto was happy to see how his new friends felt about him. It felt good to know that even now, so far from home and his precious people, he had new precious people who saw him for who he was.

It also made him feel a bit guilty for lying to them and keeping so much hidden from them.

Kurama was swift to remind him of the consequences that would follow if Naruto allowed that guilt to force him to spill his entire backstory. It was not a matter of trust, but a matter of protecting them from not only those who would no doubt come for Naruto for whatever reason they may choose as well as protecting them from Naruto himself.

Knowing that he couldn't just toss Justu around like they were going out of style kept Naruto at a level that seemed more fitting for someone of his age, at least in Remnant. Sure there were still plenty of people who could no doubt defeat him, both Ozpin and Glynda being on that list, but to do so would no doubt force them to a level they hadn't fought at since their youth.

Bottom line was that by not spilling his guts, Naruto was making sure his friends were kept safe...well as safe as they could be with the whole career choice of being a Hunter/Huntress.

Needless to say the previous day had been quite eventful, for Naruto at least. Today was panning out to be another eventful day as well.

Ozpin had caught wind of the would have been fight in the cafeteria and had decided a fitting punishment for both Naruto and Cardin.

Seeing as how Beacon was training future soldiers, what better way to settle a dispute than with combat? Obviously it wouldn't be a no holds bar fight. The match would be something more of a regulated spar with one of the professors acting as referee and the shields all of Beacon's arenas were outfitted with turned on to ensure that there was no serious injuries.

This would allow Cardin and Naruto to settle their beef with each other in a relatively safe and monitored environment. The "prize" for the winner of this impromptu exhibition? Getting away scot-free.

Well for Naruto at least. Cardin would be penalized for bullying another student regardless of if he won or not. By winning though he would have his sentence lightened to some degree. While Naruto didn't technically do anything wrong, being stopped by Glynda before he could actually hit Cardin, he still had attempted to harm another student and then disrespected a professor. Thus his punishment was having to fight in the match and, if he lost, serving the equivalent of Cardin's own sentence.

Of course both teams NNPR and RWBY hardly saw this as a punishment, having full confidence that their blond friend would have no troubles in triumphing over Cardin. In their eyes this was just going to be an entertaining show of seeing Cardin get what he deserved.

As the two teams entered into the main entrance way to the arena, the group of teens stopped as the fighter's entrance was separate from the one for the audience.

Slinging an arm around her fellow blond's shoulder, Yang grinned as she gave Naruto a little pep talk, "Kick that jerk-face's ass Foxy!"

Well a Yang version of a pep talk at least.

Having said her peace, Yang moved aside only to be replaced by her younger sister.

"Kick his butt Naruto! We'll be cheering you on the whole time!"

These kids truly were wordsmiths of the highest calibre.

Weiss decided to throw in her own two cents to the conversation, "Don't be too much of an idiot."

Ah yes, a speech that would motivate even the laziest of bums. Weiss truly used her high class upbringing to craft such words of vigor and inspiration.

Blake only offered a nod, though if one looked closely they could see the hidden glee in her amber eyes. She usually didn't condone violence as a solution to a problem, but even she had to agree that Cardin needed a good ass kicking and who better to give it to him than blond most thought of as only a childish joker.

She wondered if it was too late to run back to her room to grab a camera. The look on Cardin's face would be priceless.

As team RWBY left to take their front row seats, Naruto's own team decided it would be a good time to give their own speeches.

"Break his legs!"

One could always count on Nora to be the one to give such eloquent and noteworthy speeches. A voice and mind that only came every generation.

Ren offered a nod before turning to take his seat with Nora.

Left alone, Naruto and Pyrrha were silent for a few moments, Naruto still trying to understand how he ended up with the strange ones as friends and Pyrrha trying to think of what to say to her captain and close friend to really motivate him.

Of course most people would agree that with Pyrrha being as attractive as she was and Naruto being a teen male, such a task wasn't really that hard and may not even require words if done right. Then again for comedy's sake we must drag as many awkward and hilarious moment out of Naruto and Pyrrha's relationship as was possible before moving to such a stage.

Nonetheless it wasn't long before the attractive red head of team NNPR decided on a course of action.

Naruto was caught off guard when Pyrrha hugged him, saying a quick, "Good luck," before letting go and smiling at him.

Naruto offered his own smile before replying with a, "Thanks."

It was Pyrrha's turn to be surprised when Kurama leapt from Naruto's shoulders to hers.

"I won't need his help and the lazy bum would rather just sit and watch the fight," Naruto explained.

_'Please, that shy Hyuuga girl could have beaten that fool with little problems. Me staying with you would only disturb my nap time. Wake me when you're done toying with that pitiful ningen _(human)_.'_

Pyrrha laughed before reaching her hand to Kurama's head, running her fingers gently through the soft fur around his ears and brow.

With one last wave the red head left to join the rest of their friends in the stands.

As Naruto made his way to finally enter the arena and start his fight, he was once more stopped from doing so, this time by a group of four that he had never seen before.

The one in front, a girl a year or so older than Naruto dressed in a combination of blacks and browns, her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and a hat covering the top portion of her brown hair, was the one to first speak.

"Hey! You're Naruto Uzumaki right?"

Despite being a little put off by the appearance of these random, to Naruto, people, the blond haired Uzumaki nodded.

The apparent leader of the team continued her speech, "We're Team CFVY (Coffee) and this is Velvet," here the young woman gestured to the only other female member of the team, a shy looking thing with rabbit ears that marked her as a Faunus. Naruto recognized her as the girl Cardin had been bullying in the first place

Continuing on the still unnamed leader kept talking, "We just wanted to say thanks. Velvet usually doesn't like to stand up for herself and so we usually are there to make sure people like that ass-hat Winchester don't mess with her. Unfortunately we weren't there, but we heard that you at least tried to step in to help her and for that we'd like to thank you Whiskers."

Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, "It was no big deal. I hate people like Cardin and I thought he needed some help with taking that stick out of his ass."

The older teen laughed while the other members of her team cracked a smile, Velvet trying and failing to hide her giggles behind her hand.

"You know what? I like you Whiskers. You actually got a pair on you, unlike most of these pansies. Give that bastard Cardin a good one for us yeah?"

Without a word more, team CFVY made their exit, leaving Naruto to ponder on the strange events and people that seemed to gravitate towards him.

_'I swear that girl reminded me way too much of Anko-sensei. God I hope she doesn't have a thing for my blood!'_

Naruto couldn't help but to shudder at the memory of a certain purple haired Jounin who took great pleasure in teasing him whenever she got the chance.

Pushing those unpleasant, or pleasant depending on who you asked, memories aside, Naruto turned to face the entrance way that stood between him and Cardin.

With a vulpine grin stretching across his whiskered face, Naruto began to walk, confidently striding towards his target.

Cardin Winchester had no idea that he was dealing with Naruto Uzumaki, crowned Prankster King of Konoha.

* * *

**AN: **Ok so I KINDA lied. There wasn't that much action in this chapter. Sorry. But hey! At least you guys weren't stuck waiting for several months for this chapter!

Anyways someone, I forgot who, asked why Naruto seemed to be the only one revealing things about himself. At this point he is the most...developed character in that he's made his peace with the events of his past and such. As such, he is the most comfortable with talking about his past, a Konoha and place that he can't feasibly get back to. That shows a little in this chapter with his moment with Blake.

His not outright saying he's a Jinchuuriki has less to do with him fearing their reactions and more to do with not wanting to drop such a huge bomb on them so soon.

The other characters will obviously make their own peace with their troubles, some getting help from Naruto and others not, and will follow suit.

As for the change with the whole bullying thing, honest to god that scene was the most aggravating thing ever to me. I hated how they (RWBY and JNPR) sat their and acted like they were better than Cardin because they "felt bad". I honestly hated the characters for that and so decided to rectify it here.

What was that saying? "Evil only happens when good people do nothing" or something like that? Well there ya go.

Anyways, as some may have noticed, some humor and such has begun to find its way into my writing style. Probably due to the amount of comedy fics I've been reading lately. Like it? Hate it? Don't give a shit? Let me know.

Hopefully I did Coco right in this chapter. For the short screen time she got in the finale, Coco has become one of those characters everybody just loves. Seeing as how badass she is (seriously, kicking a Beowulf in the Grimm Nuts? Badass certified) and with her snarky humor, I can't disagree. However that's the only scene we have to go off of and the only parallel I found was Anko so hopefully that worked out.

Again let me know what you think.

Before I rant, something many people have pointed out to me, I'll just say thanks again for all the support. Next chapter WILL have action! This I swear!

Also I find it funny how myself and SilverFoxSage tend to update around the same time.

Review, tell your people friends, and all that good shit.

Until the next chapter!

Peace out!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**: Yall are impatient as shit, but hey so am I. Anyways thanks for the rather positive feedback on last chapter and really all the chapters thus far.

I got a lot of requests asking for certain things to be done with this chapter, concerning the fight with Cardin, and most of it was stuff I was gonna do anyways so yay for you.

Was pretty cool to see that I'm not the only one who was angered by that whole bullying scene. Makes me all the more happy that I tweaked it the way I did.

Anyways...yeah not much else to say except thanks to the reviewer YuukiAsuna for leaving so many reviews. Really thanks to anyone who took the time to review, yeah even you randomly angry "flamer" person.

I don't get flames really and honestly will not try for fear of losing some of my intelligence. It's like dealing with a Kardashian, the longer you look at them the less intelligent you become.

Anyways! Story time. Grab the popcorn (or your preferred snack) and enjoy that dickwad Cardin getting his ass handed to him by our resident blond Uzumaki!

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman, are you all ready!?"

The question that boomed out from the sound system that was built into each of Beacon Academy's arenas was answered by a roar of applause and general noise making. Very few of the people watching took any stake in either of the competitors, only being there to see what would no doubt be an entertaining fight and knowing who was fighting, how could it not be?

On one side was Naruto Uzumaki who had begun to make a name for himself at the prestigious academic institution. Many knew him as the carefree and goofy blond who could make a joke out of most anything. There was also a large portion of the male populace, and some of the female students, who envied him for being so close with Pyrrha Nikos.

Despite all that though, many also knew the blond was not one to be messed with. It was proven time and time again in the various battle oriented classes that the blond was a surprisingly genius strategist and was more than capable of holding his own against both Grimm and fellow Huntsmen.

Cardin, while not as seemingly intelligent as his blond opponent, was still the captain of his team and such a position was not so easily gained with people like Ozpin and Glynda being the deciding factors on how teams were formed.

Regardless of who won, the ensuing fight was sure to be entertaining.

The announcer, a nondescript older male student who had volunteered for the job, rallied the crowd of teens with another booming call, "I said! Are! You! READY!?"

The arena near shook from the volume of the applause and shouting the crowd let loose in response. In the observation deck that looked down on both the audience and the actual battlefield, the professors of Beacon sat, watching as their students let out their inner teenager.

Glynda Goodwitch, the stern woman that she was, held a displeased frown on her face. She had been against Ozpin's decision to turn the young Uzumaki and Winchester's "punishment" into a sporting event, but loathe as she was to admit it, Ozpin was her boss and held final say in all matters regarding Beacon and its students, within reason of course.

Ozpin himself stood, leaning against his ever present cane, sipping on his mug of coffee. His face betrayed nothing, his silver orbs trained intently on the, as of now, empty field below.

Many of his staff had questioned his decision to allow something like this to take place, none more vocal in their protests than his old friend and vice-principal, Glynda. Of course many took this as Ozpin's eccentricities rearing their head, but this was far from the truth.

Ozpin was many things, but foolish was not one of them. He was keenly aware of the delicate situation that had consumed the Faunus people. Personally he would love to see the illogical discrimination against Faunus gone, but as the head of Beacon and a key player in Vale and her politics, he knew he could not make his opinions vocal. Not with the White Fang being so prominent at least.

Still he was less than happy with one of his students, a bright and strong Huntress to be at that, being treated in such a manner. He was also less than pleased with the manner in which his own staff members handled the situation, but that was a talk for another time.

If he could he would have actually liked to give young Naruto a pat on the back for acting in defense of a fellow student. Unfortunately due to his position he could not do so and so Ozpin decided to settle for the next best thing, giving the blond enigma the chance to finish what Glynda had stopped.

In this way not only would he allow those who wished to see Cardin get his comeuppance, himself included, see just that, but it would also make it seem like he didn't condone the young Uzumaki's brash actions without actually having to punish said teen. A win-win situation for all really.

Well except for Cardin, but he deserved what was coming to him so that didn't matter really.

"First up is Cardin Winchester, captain of team CRDL (Cardinal)!"

The crowd of teens clapped, though there was no real vigor to it, none either liking the smug looking teen or not wanting to reveal their own prejudices against Faunus.

Despite the lack luster greeting, the tall brunette teen managed to look as cocky as was possible, his weapon, a mace, situated on his shoulder. Garbed in armor that looked reminiscent of the kind worn in the days of the Knights, the teen managed to at least look the part of a warrior.

"His opponent tonight is Naruto Uzumaki, leader of team NNPR!"

As the blond teen calmly walked out from the shadows of the competitors hall, the stadium erupted into cheers. Even amongst the wall of noise that slammed into him, Naruto was easily able to make out the sounds of Yang, Ruby, Nora, and even Pyrrha cheering him on. With his enhanced hearing he was able to pinpoint where it came from and lo and behold there they sat, right at the first row of seats opposite the entrance he had come through.

Ruby, Yang, and Nora, being the more boisterous of his group of friends, were proudly and loudly cheering whilst waving a rather large banner that stated in bright orange letters, "Kick some butt Naruto!"

Locking eyes with them, Naruto chuckled at their exuberance and waved to them. His eyes trailed over Weiss who was trying to look as uninterested as she could, though it was clear from the smirk on her face that she had all the confidence that Naruto could defeat Cardin.

He shared a silent nod with Blake, the feline Faunus offering a smile and a wave of a little flag that bore the signature Uzumaki spiral on it.

His eyes then traveled to meet with his only male friend, Ren, who only nodded at him in acknowledgement.

Finally his eyes locked with the bright green eyes of Pyrrha who was wildly waving about her own little flag. The red head offered a smile and mouthed the words, "You can do it," to him. In return Naruto smiled and nodded before giving her a cheesy thumbs up, causing her to giggle at his carefree behavior.

What surprised him though was when he saw that team CFVY was seated not too far from his friends, cheering him on in their own way. The sunglasses wearing leader of the team used a finger to lower said shades down just far enough to offer him a flirtatious wink, something quite a few people noticed, his own team included.

The bunny eared Faunus of the team smiled demurely at him and clapped loudly to show her support while the male members of the team quietly nodded at him, obviously not being ones for many words.

"You ready to lose blondie?" Cardin called out from across the arena.

Naruto decided that if his opponent wanted to try trash talk this early, he was going to begin his own little mind games as well, and who better to do that then one of the students of Kakashi Hatake?

Taking a page out of his sensei's book Naruto slackened his posture and casually slipped his hands into his pants' pockets, closing his eyes and offering a lazy smile to top it all off, "Hmm? Did you say something?"

'Now if only I knew how Kakashi-sensei did that weird eye thing,' Naruto thought to himself.

To his credit Cardin only looked annoyed by Naruto's antics, "Tch, whatever. The faster I kick your ass the faster I can finish my stupid punishment."

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly in response, having been underestimated for a vast majority of his life he was used to it now. A few years ago he would have answered back to Cardin's insult by trying to show the "teme" just how strong he really was. Now? He could care less what someone like Cardin thought of him.

In the end it also benefitted him. Cardin thinking so little of him would give Naruto that much more of an advantage. It would also give the blond the satisfaction of humiliating Cardin in front of a huge chunk of Beacon's student body.

Seeing that the two males were ready to go and would more than likely start the fight soon regardless of if he started the match, the portly Professor Port stepped between Naruto and Cardin and spoke in a voice that boomed throughout the stadium, "This will be a match between Cardin Winchester and Naruto Uzumaki. The terms of the match have been set before this and these two young lads have already agreed to them. The Aura shields are up so feel free to let loose, but I will intervene if I feel it is getting out of hand."

Naruto and Cardin nodded at the rules of the fight, having already heard from both Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin about the rules earlier that morning.

"Ready?...Begin!" With speed belying his body shape and size, Professor Port jumped away from what would no doubt become a miniature warzone.

Cardin was quick to rush in, speeding towards Naruto with his mace poised to strike. Naruto seemed to be unfazed by this and stood there, looking as lazy as was possible.

With a heave, Cardin gave a mighty horizontal swing of his weapon, intent on slamming it into Naruto's ribs which, even with the shields up, would no doubt crack some bones if it hit.

And Naruto may have an abnormally fast healing factor thanks to his mother, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain. He just had a higher tolerance for it than most.

Still with that same lazy posture the blond ducked underneath the swing. With the balance and agility that came with being a trained shinobi, Naruto answered back with a swift side kick, throwing Cardin's feet out from under him and putting said teen flat on his ass with a surprised expression on his face.

Naruto simply hopped away, creating space between himself and the still dazed Cardin. Deciding to add insult to injury, the blond Jinchuuriki let out a yawn, causing the crowd to erupt into laughs at the dumbstruck look on Cardin's face.

Clearly getting progressively angrier due to his opponent not taking him seriously and with the sounds of derisive laughter aimed at him not helping that, Cardin leapt to his feet and was racing towards Naruto yet again.

Our blond protagonist for his part looked as carefree as if he was taking a stroll through the park. When Cardin raised his mace high into the air, making it very clear that he planned to pummel Naruto into the ground, the Jinchuuriki kept the same bland look on his face.

When the weapon was inches away from slamming into the blond's cranium, Naruto's friends began to worry. When Cardin's weapon smashed into the ground and a cloud of dust was kicked up, they really began to worry, and even Professor Port was ready to rush back to the field to see if the young Uzumaki was still alive after a blow like that.

What happened next simultaneously had people laughing and teams RWBY and NNPR on the verge of a heart attack.

"You really shouldn't let your opponents get behind you."

The next thing Cardin knew, he had a mouth full of dirt.

Up in the stands three very confused members of team RWBY applauded while attempting to figure just how in the world Naruto not only got behind Cardin without anyone in the stands noticing, but how he had managed to trip the brunette from so far away as well.

Deciding that he best person to ask was Pyrrha, someone he was known to spar with often, Ruby spoke, "Hey Pyrrha! How did Naruto manage to do all of that without anyone noticing?"

Keeping her eyes glued to the match below, Pyrrha replied, "Naruto is fast, amazingly so. I don't know exactly how fast, but I've seen him just disappear. As for tripping Cardin, look closely."

Deciding to listen, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss peered closely at Naruto and Cardin. As Naruto casually dodged yet another swing from Cardin, the light reflected off of something, causing them to scratch their heads.

Before they could ask what it was, Blake spoke aloud, "Ninja wire. So thin it's almost impossible to see, but strong enough to cut through skin."

Pyrrha nodded, "Correct. He usually keeps a spool of it in the pouch on his hip."

The three members of RWBY turned to their raven haired teammate quizzically, "How did you know that Blake?"

Just as focused on the match as team NNPR, the teen Faunus answered without looking at her teammates, "Because that's where I got the idea for my ribbons."

Seeing Naruto dodge out of the way of yet another of Cardin's swings only for her to pull on the thin wires causing the mace wielder to trip and fall again, team RWBY could see how Blake got the idea for her ribbons.

However there was a difference in the style in which Blake and Naruto used their chosen materials. Blake used them in tandem with her main weapon, making it all that much more deadly. Naruto was using it as his only weapon, showing just how good he was at using them and how much more skilled he was than Cardin in general.

To the spectators this meant that Naruto must have trained extensively in the use of ninja wire.

Of course that was from the truth. Naruto had just always liked using the stuff to help him in his pranks. He was also far and away from being a master at using the ninja tool. The only master he had encountered had been a rogue nin by the name of Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sands). Said rogue was a deadly threat not only because of his talent with ninja wire and its chakra equivalent, Chakra Strings, but because of how he used them to control hundreds of deadly human puppets, commanding them with the slightest twitches of his fingers.

That and Cardin was just wildly swinging about in hopes of hitting him. Honestly how poorly had the rest of this guy's team done for him to be named captain? At first Naruto thought it was simply because he had been trained as a Shinobi, but that went out the window quickly. Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren, and even Nora put up far more of a fight than this guy did so it wasn't that there was that huge of a gap between shinobi and Huntsmen.

Tripping Cardin again by pulling on the ninja wire wrapped around his ankles, Naruto sighed before using a small burst of Fuuton (Wind Release) Chakra to cut the thin wires, freeing Cardin from their coils.

Naruto had thought there would be more fun in messing with Cardin, but now it was just getting boring. If he was free to use his Jutsu then he would have been free to really pull off some funny and humiliating pranks, but with Ozpin and half the school watching so closely, that wouldn't be the smartest of ideas.

Shrugging the blond Jinchuuriki decided to humiliate Cardin some other time where he would really be able to put his prankster skills to work.

As Cardin blindly rushed him, yet again, Naruto decided that he had wasted enough time and energy. Right as Cardin was inches from him, Naruto moved to the side, his arm held straight out. Before Cardin realized what happened, he was gasping for air while hung over his opponent's outstretched arm.

Moving his arm out from under Cardin, who now looked like an upside down U, Naruto slammed his elbow into brunette's spine with devastating force. Many had no doubt that had the Aura barriers not been up, Cardin would have possibly been paralyzed with as powerful as Naruto had hit him.

Even still the Aura shields could only do so much and the leader of CRDL would no doubt have a nasty bruise on his back by the end of the day.

"You know for a guy that talked so much trash about me, I'd thought you'd put up a better fight. Guess I was wrong," Naruto shrugged.

As he taunted his downed opponent, Naruto now understood why some of his opponents liked to do it so much. It really was pretty fun to mess with your opponents. Then again they ended up getting their asses handed to them, because they had underestimated him. If anything he had been overestimating Cardin though.

As said teen rose to his feet, an angry snarl on his face, Naruto had to give it to the guy, he could take a hit. The clothesline alone would have put a lesser opponent down for a few minutes. Cardin had tanked not only that but the elbow drop as well and was still getting up.

Still not having learned his lesson, Cardin bum rushed Naruto one last time. Naruto raised an eyebrow before shrugging. Prepared to end the fight with one last decisive blow, the blond teen decided at the last minute to go out with a bang.

"Uh oh," Pyrrha said as she saw the look now on Naruto's face.

Weiss, along with the others, was curious to know why Pyrhha suddenly seemed so worried, "What? Blondie's got this one in the bag, so why 'Uh oh'?"

"Because whenever Naruto has that look on his face, it means someone is about to be embarrassed. I just feel bad for Cardin."

Near leaping from her seat, Yang cheered loudly, "I don't! Cough him up like a hairball Foxy!"

Those near the exuberant blonde of team RWBY put palm to face at the less than funny attempt at humor.

As Cardin swung and missed, again, Naruto disappeared from sight.

"Like I said, don't let your opponents get behind you. Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennin Goroshi!"

No sound was made. In fact it seemed as if the entirety of Beacon had gone eerily still. Even the wildlife had stopped moving, as if knowing that some great disturbance in nature had occurred.

The first sound to be made was the muffled voice of Blake echoing throughout the arena, "Hidden Leaf Village Secret Finger Technique, One Thousands Years of Death...you can't be serious..."

As Cardin was blasted into the air via poking of the booty hole, the crowd erupted into uproarious laughter, most crying or holding their stomachs in an attempt to gather some breath.

Yang was literally rolling on the floor, holding her sides in laughter. Ruby had covered her mouth in a poor attempt to quell the laughter, but she soon joined her sister on the floor. Weiss looked horrified, but was at the same time guffawing behind her hand. Blake still had her palm planted firmly on her face, though a blush could be seen stretching across her cheeks.

Nora was holding onto Ren so that she didn't end up like Ruby and Yang. Said raven haired male was meanwhile trying his hardest to not laugh, and instead ended up looking slightly constipated. Pyrrha was shaking her head and laughing at the same time, thinking, 'Only you would do something like this Naruto.'

In the Professor's booth there were many looks of pure surprise and some even trying as hard as they could to not burst out into laughter like their students. The blonde deputy Headmistress of Beacon however was not with her colleagues and had no problems in voicing her opinion on Naruto's "attack", "The...audacity! I have never seen something so appalling, and to have the sheer shameless bravado to call that an attack!"

"I think it was fitting," came the voice of Ozpin as he sipped on his coffee.

While everyone around him had reacted in some form to Naruto's...technique, Ozpin stood as calmly and stoically as was his norm. There was not even so much as a raise in either of his eyebrows. The silver haired headmaster had taken Naruto's finisher as seriously as any other move he had seen.

And Glynda was surprised by this. Taking a minute to think about it though, she really shouldn't be all that surprised by Ozpin's acceptance of the situation. He had always taken even the most out of the ordinary situations in stride. It was what had made him such a fierce and powerful Huntsmen and the reason he was trusted to run Beacon in the first place.

As Cardin lay in the appropriately named "Face down, ass up" position, unconscious from either shame or pain, Professor Port coughed into his hand, "Uh...yes...well, the victor of this match is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Those who had recovered from their bout of laughter cheered, while those who hadn't, attempted to cheer as well, but only ended up choking in the process.

The medics soon arrived to cart Cardin away, none of them too eager to treat such an odd case.

How exactly did one go about healing an injury to the anus anyways?

* * *

The days after the "fight" between Naruto and Cardin had seen a return to the somewhat normal. Team NNPR was back to taking care of their classes and training when their schedules allowed them the time and Naruto had become somewhat of a feared opponent in the battle classes.

Of course he was only one among a few others who had earned the top spots. In fact both teams RWBY and NNPR had become known for their above average prowess on the battlefield and many of their fellow freshman class dreaded being pitted against any of the members from either team.

As for Cardin, well he wasn't seen for two days and when he finally did start going back to class, nobody, not even some of the Professors, could look at the leader of team CRDL without chuckling. It didn't help that he had to sit on a specially shaped pillow so as to avoid causing pain to his injured backside.

Naruto had also been sought out by team CFVY, something which his friends were curious about. Of course that curiosity stemmed from the interactions between their blond friend and the brazen leader of CFVY. The older teen seemed to have no qualms with openly flirting with and teasing Naruto, something which seemed to bother Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang. Of course Pyrrha's reason for being bothered by Naruto's relationship with the older female was, while unknown to her, obvious to most others. Nobody knew why Blake seemed to not like the team leader of CFVY and she didn't know why either.

Yang however openly admitted that she didn't like the older girl, because she felt that only she should be able to flirt with and tease her fellow blond. This seemed to be more of a case of two such bold and strong personalities butting heads.

Naruto, being the still somewhat oblivious blond he was, didn't pick up on any of this and happily made friends with team CFVY which lead to him actually learning their names.

The girl he had previously likened to Anko, he found, was Coco, a name he found aptly fit her. The bunny eared Faunus he had defended before was named Velvet Scarlatina. The two silent male teammates were Fox, the skinnier red haired one which Naruto and Kurama had a good laugh at, and Yatsuhashi.

Thanks to his befriending the elder team, Naruto was able to learn a little bit more about how Beacon functioned and prepared their students for the field. Sadly first year students were restricted from taking part in missions, which brought Naruto to tears. On the other hand he was happy to find out that the lowest missions they could take were assisting the local police force, a far cry from the D rank missions he had done with his Genin team.

However the level of missions they could take depended on their performance in their first year, at the end of which they would receive a rank as an individual and as a team.

In Naruto's mind all this amounted to was, "First year is going to be boring."

Seeing the mopey look on Naruto's whiskered face, Velvet felt bad and revealed to him a little known fact that not many students used, they were free to leave Beacon's grounds as long as they were either done with their classes or had none.

The blond jinchuuriki was quick to exploit this and had boarded one of the various transport ships that ferried students between Vale and Beacon. He had tried to convince the others to tag along, but they all had work to do for one class or another. Of course he had already finished his work thanks to a certain jutsu of his.

And so we find our whiskered protagonist strolling through the streets of Vale's market district with Kurama wrapped around his neck.

"How does his place not have any damn ramen stands!?" Naruto cried to the heavens.

Beacon's ramen was, while not the best he had ever had, decent, but he figured that an actual ramen stand would have a far better tasting menu seeing as how they made it from scratch.

_'Seventeen years together and I still don't understand how you can eat so much of that slop,_' Kurama commented.

Glaring heatedly at his furry companion Naruto retorted,_ 'It is the food of the Kami and you will show it the respect it deserves!'_

Putting paw to snout the chibi-fied Kyuubi sighed, _'Were it not for me and your Uzumaki blood you would have probably died from a blood clot with how you inhale the stuff. Even worse if not for that big chested woman you call a Godmother you would have stayed a midget for the rest of your life.'_

Naruto seemingly ignored his Bijuu and instead pondered on something else, _'Hmm, death by ramen...yup, definitely how I want to go out.'_

_'My hatred of you and your family knows no bounds.'_

_'Love ya too buddy.'_

_'Kurama?'_

_'Why can't you leave me in peace?'_

_'When did we end up in Vale's red light district?'_

_'Probably around the time I was contemplating strangling you with my tails.'_

_'So, what, five minutes or so ago?'_

_'Roughly.'_

Naruto stared in mild curiosity as he looked upon what had to be one of the nicest looking clubs he had seen in a red light district, and he had been in a lot of red light districts, more than any seventeen year old had any business in visiting. Albeit most of the time it was, because he had to drag Jiraiya's shit faced butt out of some brothel or strip joint.

How that pervert of a man had managed to train both Naruto and his father into respectably strong and capable shinobi was a wonder in and of of itself.

Back to the matter at hand, Naruto was wondering if Vale's police force were either that terrible or the owner had deep enough pockets to pay off some higher ups. The place almost literally screamed, "Many illegal things go on inside me!"

Shrugging Naruto decided that if he couldn't get his hands on any ramen he might as well enjoy some saki. Thanks to the gift/curse of being both a Jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki, Naruto lacked the ability to get drunk. His body naturally purged itself of anything it considered toxic or poisonous before it could take affect, so the only way to possible get him drunk was to either seal off his link to Kurama or guzzle enough hard liquor to kill several dozen fully grown men.

Waltzing into the rather large club, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the DJ who had a bear head on as he blasted some tune or another. The blond had never really invested too much interest in music and so he cared little for it and saw it as nothing but background noise.

Stepping up to the bar portion of the club, Naruto noticed the odd looks he was getting from the employees, no doubt due to his age. Of course he shrugged them off with ease. Most of the shinobi villages operated on the "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink" policy which meant as soon as you got a headband you were by all rights a legal adult in the eyes of the village.

Regardless of his age though, the bartender strode over to him and asked, "What can I get ya?"

"Chilled saki, please," Naruto replied.

Nodding the bartender wandered off to retrieve said drink and the saucers needed, leaving Naruto and who the blond assumed to be either the manager or owner of the club judging by how the various employees looked to him for orders and such.

"Aren't you a little too young to be hanging out in a place like this, kid?" The well dressed man asked.

Naruto turned his head slightly and shrugged, "I'm a paying customer, so does it really matter?"

The older male grinned, "Haha good point, kid. Just don't expect any special treatment here."

That said the man walked off to do whatever he needed to, leaving Naruto alone. Seeing as how his drink still hadn't arrived, the blond took the time to survey the crowd of people. The dance floor was surprisingly packed, a writhing mass of bodies moving in time with the pulsing beat of the music while the lights performed their own number.

Naruto was none too surprised to see some rather wealthy looking people mixed in among those who made their living through underhanded means. All too often those with too much money liked to think that said funds made them more protected and so they felt more daring, wanting to see the "fringes of society" as it were.

What did catch his eye were too outlandishly dressed twins who looked to be about his age. One of the twin girls was dressed in a mostly red lolita themed outfit with her counterpart in an all white version of the dress.

The two drew attention mostly because of how far removed they looked. They didn't look to be in the club as patrons, nor did they look to be employees as they were in their own little section of the club. If Naruto had to guess they either worked directly for the club owner, or this place catered to certain people's "needs" and the girls were the ones responsible for entertaining those guests.

Naruto was more inclined to believe the former seeing the weapons they had hidden on them and the amount of Aura he could feel from them. Hell one of them alone had more than the guy who had just talked to them. No doubt they made a deadly pair.

Seeing the bartender finally come back with a bucket and a saucer, Naruto shrugged off those thoughts and decided to indulge himself. Just because he couldn't get drunk, didn't mean he didn't enjoy the taste and feel of alcoholic drinks.

Right as the saucer hit his lips, Kurama spoke through their mental link,_ 'Kit, incoming. Two heavily negative presences are about to walk in and one feels eerily similar to that snake Orochimaru.'_

It was times like these that Naruto both hated and was grateful for Kurama's Negative Emotion Sensing ability. It had saved their skin several times and it was also nice to figure out who were the "bad guys" so to speak. On the other hand it was usually only triggered at times like this, when Naruto really didn't want to get involved with something.

The fact that one of the people was apparently so full of negativity that Kurama had compared them to one of the most vile humans they ever had the displeasure of meeting was terrible icing on an already terrible cake.

_'Why do I have the feeling that one way or another, I'm going to end up fighting one of them right now?'_ Naruto grumbled.

_'Because you and Lady Luck have a love/hate relationship,'_ Kurama replied back with a grin.

Walking in through the doors was a rather effeminate looking man who wore a bowler hat over his deep orange hair. He walked with a cane that looked like it was more for show than anything. The smirk on his face made Naruto's skin crawl and the way he held himself just screamed egomaniac.

Walking next to him was a petite girl with half her hair a bright pink and the other half a light brown. She carried an umbrella with her and bore an odd smile that normally would have made her look all the more cuter, but for some reason put Naruto on edge. Either she wasn't right in the head or she knew exactly what she was doing to get such a reaction.

Strutting in behind the man and his companion was a woman in high heels and a maroon colored dress with gold accents. In other circumstances Naruto would have admitted that she was a beauty with her raven locks and searing gaze. Shoot despite her petite figure, Naruto had no doubt that Jiraiya would have been all over her in seconds, rest his perverted soul.

However right now he didn't see her as a random woman walking into a bar looking for a good time. No he saw her as a potential enemy and seeing the way she carried herself, rightfully so. This was a woman who had power in spades and knew how to use it. She was trained, she was powerful, she was deadly, and she knew it.

In a boisterous voice that just made Naruto want to smash his fist into his face, the effeminate man spoke aloud, "Jr.! I knew you would do anything for money, but allowing a minor to sit at your bar and drink? How sad to see how corrupt our world has become to allow such a thing."

The now named Jr., the guy who had spoken to Naruto beforehand, seemed as equally put off by the man as Naruto, "Torchwick. Getting that kind of talk from you of all people doesn't have the same effect."

Hearing the name of the girly man, Naruto tensed and narrowed his eyes. He had heard the name on various news stations. Wanted for several robberies and a whole lot of other less than legal stuff, the guy was on top of Vale's most wanted list.

"Oh come now Jr., my old friend! You say that like I'm some low life criminal or something. You and I both know I'm more into high crimes and enjoying the finer things in life," Torchwick replied with that same sickening grin.

Waving off the eccentric man and no doubt wanting to get rid of him as fast as possible, Jr. spoke, "Whatever. What do you want this time, Torchwick?"

Torchwick seemed ready to reply with another "witty" remark, but was cut off by the woman who stood next to him, "Enough Torchwick. Get what we came for and let's go."

Clearly upset at being cut off, Torchwick grumbled to himself, "Alright alright, geez. You heard the boss lady. The usual."

Jr. shrugged, "Fine. Fifty men it is. You know the fee."

Eyes turning to Naruto, Torchwick smirked and made his way over to the bar, slinging am arm around Naruto's shoulders, "How 'bout you huh? Looking for some work? It pays good money."

It was only thanks to Torchwick's experience and the pronounced growling that he was able to move away from Naruto fast enough to avoid becoming Kurama's chew toy. Suffice to say he and the others who were watching in interest were shocked to see what they had thought to be a scarf turn out to actually be a living breathing creature, a fox no less.

It was clearly evident though that the fox was not happy with Torchwick touching Naruto, showing by its displeasure with the man by glaring heatedly at him and snarling loud enough to be heard over the music.

The blond seemed unaffected by his fox attacking Torchwick, taking another sip of his saki before speaking, "Sorry buddy, not interested. Besides, I don't swing that way."

Jr. laughed at the thinly veiled jab at Torchwick's sexuality, and it seemed even the man's boss or accomplice found it funny if her smirk was anything to go by.

Torchwick huffed and adjusted his head, "I'd get a muzzle for that thing kid before it bites the wrong person and gets you into a lot of trouble."

Naruto grinned and turned around to fully face Torchwick, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Kurama knows how to tell slimeballs like you apart from everyone else."

The wanted man was now clearly growing tired of the blond's less than subtle jabs at him, "I'd watch it kid, you're messing with the wrong person."

As Naruto stated down Torchwick with the utmost confidence, the DJ seemed to have an excellent sense of timing and changed up the song choice.

Snapping his fingers, Torchwick huffed, "Neo! Handle this kid."

The umbrella toting girl smiled and nodded, not once making any sound. Turning she winked at Naruto before bowing at the waist and taking an oddly relaxed stance with her umbrella laying against her shoulder.

Standing across from her, Naruto reached to his side and grabbed the scroll that housed Hi no Ishi, and with a quick swipe of a bloodied digit, the shakujo was held in his right hand, garnering many raised eyebrows at the odd sight of not just the weapon, but the means of retrieving it as well.

"Great, you're one of those silent types, always so annoying to fight," Naruto commented with a grin.

He had been looking for a good fight, and while fighting his teammates was fun, he couldn't really unwind for fear of revealing something or hurting them in some way. Here, where no one knew him and where he had no qualms about causing collateral damage, he could finally let loose a bit.

It also helped that most of the club's patrons had long since left out of fear, something Jr. didn't look too happy about.

_'Been awhile since we let loose eh, Kit? Show that buffoon who he's messing with!_' Kurama said with a grin stretching across his face.

_'I swear I was never this battle hungry,'_ Naruto commented.

_'You're an Uzumaki and my Jinchuuriki. You live for this!'_

Twirling his shakujo Naruto grinned, "Let's see if I still got it."

The music paused at the right time, Naruto tensing and his short opponent staring him down with that same smile.

The music surged back to life, hitting like a wall of sound and in that same instance Naruto was gone from sight, surprising everyone with how fast he had moved.

The diminutive girl was only barely able to bring her umbrella up, blocking Naruto's swing of his shakujo. Spinning her umbrella, Neo attempted to knock the staff out of the blond's hands, only to get a stomach full of Naruto's foot, sending her skidding backwards and onto the dance floor.

Frowning, Neo blinked, changing her eye color at the same time, something which Naruto found only slightly odd.

Shrugging the blond Jinchuuriki sped off towards Neo, only to have his horizontal swipe blocked by the shorter girl's oddly sturdy umbrella. The ice cream themed girl smiled mockingly at her opponent. She was however thrown off guard though when instead of looking shocked, Naruto just grinned right back.

Nodding his head behind her, Neo allowed her gaze to flicker to see what he was looking at, only to be shocked when she saw a second grinning blond rushing at her from behind.

Taking advantage of her smaller size, Neo used her other hand to lean on Naruto's shoulder, and with a shove she back flipped over the second blond slamming her heel into its head on her way back down to the floor. Instead of the second Naruto being knocked unconscious or being sent to the floor like many expected, it went up in a poof of smoke, obscuring Neo from vision.

This seemed to play into Naruto's plan perfectly as he was quick to rush blindly into the smoke.

With the white cloud still obscuring their vision, the spectators could only hear the sounds of metal hitting metal and accompanied by the occasional shadow being seen through the smoke.

"Fūton: Daitoppa _(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)_!"

The spectators were forced to quickly grab onto something as a mighty gale of wind suddenly swept through the club with enough force to send anything not nailed down flying.

Neo, weighing very little, was hurled through the air and slammed into one of the club's walls with the heavy force of the winds keeping the diminutive girl pinned there.

Naruto wasn't finished though as he flashed through a chain of unknown hand gestures so quickly that his hands looked to be little more than blurs. Landing on the last of the odd gestures, the blond inhaled deeply, "Katon: Ryūka no jutsu _(Fire Release: Dragon Flame technique)_!"

Exhaling, Naruto unleashed a stream of flames from his mouth in a manner similar to the mythic beast the technique was named for. To the spectator's further surprise, instead of what remained of the winds consuming the flames, they instead seemed to feed and give it direction, aiming the infernal stream towards the still dazed Neo.

None seemed to be more intrigued by the unique attacks of the boy than the mysterious raven haired woman.

_'This boy...there's no way this could be Dust manipulation. I've never seen someone control the elements with such ease. The only answer is that this is his Semblance or he's the end result of some inhumane experiment involving Dust.'_

Allowing himself to relax, Naruto sighed and raked a hand through his blond locks, _'I will never enjoy killing.'_

_'Good, that means that you are still capable of emotions. When you stop feeling guilty, then that is a cause for worry,'_ Kurama spoke sagely.

Grinning Naruto began to scratch behind Kurama's rabbit like ears, _'Never thought I'd hear something like that from you.'_

Despite the pleasure he felt at the scratching, the Bijuu grumbled, _'Please I am nothing like that idiot Shukaku. The only time I've ever killed en masse was when - DODGE!'_

_'Wha-'_

Naruto was painfully pulled from his thoughts when he felt a foot slam into his abdomen, causing him to bend over said limb. The follow up that was just a painful, the blond getting a heel to the face which sent him sliding across the floor like a hockey puck.

_'Dumbass, that's what you get for letting your guard down.'_

_'The hell was I supposed to know she would survive a Fūton powered Ryūka to the face!?'_

_'You're a shinobi moron!' You're supposed to be prepared for everything!'_

_'If you hadn't noticed, THERE ARE NO OTHER SHINOBI AROUND!'_

_'Yea well if you don't get up and move, there won't be any shinobi PERIOD.'_

Rolling to the side, Naruto was able to avoid being skewered by an umbrella of all things. Looking up he could see a less than pleased Neo frowning at him. The edges of her clothes were either cut up or slightly singed while her umbrella was heavily burned and looked to be on the verge of breaking.

Standing up straight, Naruto could already feel his chakra start to repair the damage he had taken. For such a small thing, she managed to pack quite the wallop. With her first kick she had managed to bruise some of his ribs and knock them out of place while her heel kick had broken his jaw and slightly cracked his skull.

As Naruto rubbed his sore jaw, he pondered to himself, _'Maybe I should look into that whole using your chakra/aura as a shield thing afterall.'_

While Naruto dodged another kick from Neo, Kurama spoke, _'It would be pointless. Anything short of someone ripping out your heart or cutting your head off would just be healed anyways.'_

With an outstretched hand, Naruto caught the next of Neo's kicks, keeping her literally on her toes. Shoving said limb to the side to throw her off her balance, Naruto went for a palm strike to the chest. Instead of stumbling, Neo spun and whipped up her parasol, smacking Naruto's hand away.

Twirling Hi no Ishi, the blond aimed a swing at the shorter girl's legs. The staff was stopped short by Neo's umbrella. Naruto in turn aimed a punch at the shorter girl's face only to have it stopped by the diminutive girl's own hand.

With both of their hands occupied the two combatants took a minute to stare the other down, cerulean orbs peering into what were now heterochromic eyes, one a dark brown and the other a light, almost white, pink.

Naruto grinned his trademark foxy grin and Neo frowned before smiling her own odd smirk, blinking in the process which changed the colors of her eyes.

"Kurama."

Neo turned wide eyes to see the vulpine grin of her opponent's fox. Opening his maw, Kurama began channeling his own chakra, creating a miniature orb of concentrated red Bijū chakra. While downright tiny when compared to the full size Kurama could use when in his true Kyuubi form, this was still the devastating trademark attack of the Nine Tailed Beasts and their Jinchuuriki, the Bijūdama _(Tailed Beast Ball)_.

Not wanting to see what such a menacing looking attack could do, Neo acted quickly, grabbing Naruto's wrist and, leaning her weight on to her umbrella, put her feet on Naruto's abdomen, making her parallel to the ground. With a shove, Neo kicked off and sent herself shooting away from her blond opponent and his fox.

Just in time as well, Kurama unleashing the pent up chakra in a single condensed ball which flew just above Neo. With the ball being no bigger than a baseball, many didn't expect much of it. Of course that notion flew out the window when the tiny ball impacted with the wall above the entrance. The doors, along with almost the entirety wall, were decimated in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a few pebbles of building materials behind as the only sign that there had once been a wall there.

The sound of the explosion and the concussive blast of air that followed were just as devastating. The sound took a second to catch up and when it did, it hit as a physical force, the invisible waves hitting everyone and everything near the impact with enough force as to actually feel like a solid wall. The winds that kicked up due to the attack hit just as hard, destroying even more of the club.

It was at this time that Vale's police force, no doubt backed by some Huntsmen, decided to get involved, the sounds of sirens blaring in the distance.

Not wanting to deal with said law enforcement, Torchwick called out, "Neo! Time to go!"

The odd girl curtsied at Naruto before running to join her already escaping accomplices.

Deciding that leaving the scene would be a good idea for him as well, Naruto turned towards the gaping form of Jr., "Sorry bout the wall!"

_'I'm not. Been awhile since we've destroyed some stuff.'_

_'Not now Kurama.'_

In a blur of speed Naruto was gone, leaping across the rooftops to distance himself from the scene of destruction.

Standing alone in the midst of what had once been a well built and well kept club, Jr. could do nothing but stare in shock at what was left of his establishment.

"NO MORE BLOND'S IN MY CLUB!"

* * *

As Naruto sped across the rooftops, laughing all the way, a set of piercing amber eyes stared at his retreating form.

_'Hmm. He could be useful to me, far more useful than this buffoon Torchwick. Now to find out just who you are and what motivates you. This'll be fun.'_

With a smirk the mysterious raven haired woman sauntered her way to the car that one of Torchwick's men was driving.

The effeminate man himself was near grinding his teeth in anger, "Damned blond! I swear the next time I see that mug of his I'm gonna kill him myself."

"No you will not."

Turning to look at his "boss" Torchwick was clearly not happy about being told no, "Why not!? He could easily derail all of our plans!"

In response the woman just smirked, her eyes beginning to glow, resembling fire itself, "Do not worry about him Torchwick. I will personally...handle the situation."

The crime boss huffed before pulling out a cigar and lighting it, "Driver, get us back to base."

* * *

_'Kurama, you know what I forgot to do?'_ Naruto thought as he sat on the ship back to Beacon.

Stirring from his "nap", Kurama replied, _'Actually kill the creep who will no doubt be a source of problems for us later on?'_

Stroking his chin in thought, the blond shook his head, _'Well yeah that, but something even more important than that!'_

_'Oh kami don't-'_

_'Ramen!'_

_'...kit.'_

_'Yeah?'_

_'I loathe you.'_

_'Love you too Kurama, love you too.'_

* * *

**AN**: I will say here and now that this will be a rather lengthy AN due to certain events that have happened. If you do not wish to read, feel free to skip to the next bolded section.

As I'm sure most of you are already aware of, we not too long ago lost a talented mind. The creator of RWBY and integral part of the group, Rooster Teeth, Monty Oum, passed away on Tuesday due to certain circumstances that were out of anyone's control.

When I found this out I was deeply saddened. I enjoy watching almost anything having to do with Rooster Teeth and RWBY, in a few short episodes, had managed to capture my attention and bring back my love of cartoons/anime. I remember binge watching the entirety of Volume 1 and eagerly awaiting each episode of Volume 2.

I never got the chance to meet Monty, but from what I saw in interviews and read about others meeting him, he was a genuine, hard working, and passionate man who lived to do what he loved and that is something I strive to accomplish everyday. Thankfully when it was revealed that he was in critical condition, fans and others banded together and managed to raise a rather large sum of money to help Monty's family pay for the hospital bills. It is terrible that that same money will do that, but now also no doubt go towards helping to pay for his funeral.

The future of RWBY lays in limbo, something I am torn up about. On one hand I would hate to see someone else even attempt to continue what Monty Oum created. On the other, it would be terrible to let his vision and creation die with him.

Rooster Teeth have shown the utmost respect for their friend and coworker and have released a podcast dedicated to him as well as a tribute video. I am not afraid to say that I got choked up as I watched it.

They have also stated that, instead of sending flowers or anything else, if you truly want to honor Monty, then create. Make music. Make art. Simply do what you love in his memory and I could not think of a more beautiful sentiment.

What does this mean for all of us fanfiction writers? For those artists on DeviantArt and such? For us musicians? Simple. Do it. Strive everyday to keep moving and live life and work just as passionately as Monty Oum did.

That it why I dedicate not just this chapter, but this entire story to Monty Oum, a truly inspirational human being. I am also working on a set of guitar covers of songs from the RWBY soundtrack that I will post on YouTube.

I encourage my fellow musicians, writers, my fellow artists, to do the same and to those of you who hesitate because you don't think you're good enough, so what. Do it. You will never grow or learn without stepping outside of your comfort zone. I'm not saying to leap out of it, but at least put your toes out, test the waters.

**Those more concerned about the story can come back.**

This chapter was a return to the rather lengthier chapters I had before and was also a little more action packed. For those who expected more from the fight with Cardin...sorry. To make up for it I've decided that starting next chapter I will be doing the occasional omake which will have Naruto pranking Cardin and the shenanigans that ensue.

Not every chapter will have one, but they will happen when I can make it happen.

As for Naruto himself, well you guys finally get to see a little more of how strong he is in comparison to some of the other RWBY cast.

Since we don't exactly have a clear scale of power, I'm pegging Naruto going all out with jutsu and such to be around the level of a veteran Huntsmen (Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and Raven) simply due to versatility and Naruto's own tenacity as well his almost Deus ex machina level healing.

Seriously he took a Chidori to the chest at what 13 or 14? At 17 and with a better connection to Kurama and his own heritage I figure his healing factor would be near instantaneous.

However with the Bijū cloak on I don't think there would be a real fight for him unless all of one city united against him. Even then at the like 6 or 7 tail mark Naruto could trounce some cities. At full merge with Kurama...well I doubt all of Remnant could handle that.

Anyways that's why I say he was able to fight Neopolitan, someone who kicked Yang's ass with stupid ease, on such a level. Of course it also helps that with no one knowing about jutsu, Naruto has a pretty huge surprise factor going for him.

Of course Neopolitan also RAN when Yang's mom Raven just looked at her, so again, unclear power scale here.

The pairing, for those who care, is still up in the air, though now it's between Blake, Pyrrha, and Cinder. Why Cinder? Cuz she's a sexy badass that's why! Also Naruto's unnatural ability to attract people, especially women, to him.

Canon Naruto has a priestess wanting his kids, a few female daimyo eyeing him, his own stalker, and...well yeah Naruto has no problems attracting the ladies.

Speaking of females, someone commented that my description of the females in the story was coming off as offensive or overly sexual. Sorry? I mean I've never been one to invest so much...thought into such things just because I think it's all rather stupid.

I'm neither a feminist or misogynist. I just think people are people, plain and simple. Some have one sex organ, others have another, and some even have both. So what. I could care less.

Point is, I'm just describing the characters. Did I decide to give Yang a bust size to rival Kim Kardashian? Nope. Is it a point of comedy and a thing? Yeah.

Do I intentionally aim to make them seem sexual? Hell no. As a male raised in a female family, that's like asking to get your ass beat. Yang has big boobs. Blake has a hip sway when she walks. These are facts. Nothing I can do bout that.

Anyways! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Comment or questions? Leave a review. Something you want answered ASAP? Shoot me a pm.

Hope ya'll have a good one!

Until next chapter,

Peace!

"So you just work as hard as you can and still there's never enough time so the thing you gotta learn is to essentially let go."

"Even brilliant lights flicker and die."

RIP Monty Oum (June 22nd, 1981 - February 1st, 2015)


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **And we are back once again with another chapter! Let me start this off by saying thank you to all the people who read this and an even bigger thank you to the people who take the time to review. Just smashed through the 300 review mark at barely chapter 6! Considering I'm still relatively new to this, that is amazing!

If you don't think I read the reviews, because I don't reply, I do, each and every one, no matter how short or long. I simply lack the time to reply to each and every one so I try and answer only the ones who have more than one person asking that same question or whatever.

If you do have something to ask that can neither be answered by the story itself or the above mentioned method, feel free to pm me. I tend to reply to those within the day if possible.

Also thank you for being so awesome. I'm one of those people who act as their own worst critique and it is only through sheer "well fuck it" attitude that I can post chapters. The fact that you all love what I considered less than great is endearing.

That's not to say I don't enjoy or love some of my work.

But anyways! I'd like to apologize to Spartan Ninja. I didn't exactly remember the review that was left and so went off on a tangent with it. The review was not meant to say what I thought it did and so I'm sorry if i made you look like an ass, not my intention.

As for your critique itself, I agree. I always find myself sitting there scratching my head trying to come up with new ways to say "He/she said". I usually end up with a fair few terms (Naruto = blond, blond Uzumaki, Jinchurriki, etc.) but I do acknowledge that it isn't the most...creative variety, something I'll work harder to fix.

I'd like to thank my repeat reviewers like YuukiAsuna, Engineer4Ever, and those reviewers who decided to leave quite the lengthy comments like Seta, HollowIchigo12, LS14, and others.

General consensus seems...well oddly even. Pyrrha and Blake have their fair share of followings. Cinder...honestly I was joking, but some of you actually took to the idea and the process of making that pairing happen intrigues me. I do have plans for her and Torchwick as villains. Though it's been hinted that Cinder is one of those villains who has a tragic back story and actually has good intentions, though misguided they may be.

Enough blabber! Story time!

* * *

There were many ways Naruto could imagine spending his Saturday morning - training with his team, sleeping, eating, pulling a prank on Cardin, or possibly getting in trouble for the stunt he had pulled the night before at Jr.'s club. Oddly enough, he wasn't currently doing any of those things. Even more strange was the fact that Professor Ozpin seemed to know that the young blond was involved with the incident in Vale and yet was content to not ask any questions despite the many inquisitive stares he had gotten from the headmaster of Beacon.

If our protagonist was not taking part in any of the aforementioned activities, then what exactly was he doing you ask?

Enjoying a soothing cup of tea at a café in Vale's market district. With the sun barely having risen above the horizon a few short hours ago it was still relatively cool, a gentle breeze carrying a morning chill to balance out the heat that radiated off the gaseous ball of flames in the sky.

Seated on the second floor balcony of the rather well furnished eatery, Naruto allowed himself to relax into his chair, feeling the caress of the wind as it gently swayed his blond mop of hair. As he did so, his cerulean orbs traveled to the young female who was actually the reason for his even being there in the first place.

Sitting across from the shinobi in hiding was a pale skinned raven haired beauty. Dressed in her usual garb of purple/black stockings, white undershirt, black top, and her signature bow, Blake Belladona took a sip of her tea, looking just as relaxed as her male friend.

Many would be surprised to hear that it had actually been the young woman who had asked Naruto to accompany her to a café, knowing that the normally soft spoken and monotone member of team RWBY preferred her privacy and space away from most others. While it was true that she had begun to open up when around her teammates, even they knew that their friend and teammate had her limits and would actively seek time away from them when she reached said limit of social interaction.

The fact that she had asked Naruto, whom many knew to be loud, brash, and by all rights the opposite of Blake, was also odd and somewhat out of the norm for the raven haired teen. Even the leader of team NNPR was surprised when Blake sought him out and asked him to go with her on what amounted to a date in the eyes of most others.

Of course Naruto was far from being like most people and being as romantically dense as he was, saw it as a friend asking another friend to hang out, nevermind the fact that she had asked just him and him alone to go with her.

And so a short airship ride, a walk, and some small talk later they had found themselves quickly seated by the elderly lady who owned the café. The young Uzumaki had been confused when said owner had winked at Blake and said, "Opposites attract don't they?"

While the meaning was lost on our blond hero, Blake was quick to understand the elderly woman's hinting and quickly attempted to hide the blush that was blossoming on her cheeks. This also happened to be the reason that the young woman had refused to make eye contact for the past few minutes which had eventually led to there being a thick tension between the two teens, though Naruto had no idea why.

"We really should have left a note for the others," came Naruto's voice in an attempt to break the tension.

Blake replied in her usual monotone, "They'll be fine."

"Uh, you do know who you're talking about right? Yang? Nora?" Naruto chuckled.

After a moment of thought and her mind conjuring the mental image of a panicked Yang and Nora literally turning Beacon upside down in search of them while Ruby and Ren tried in vain to stop the two, the ravenette put palm to face before muttering, "They're gonna burn the school down."

"The possibility of us returning to a ruined school aside, how come you asked me to come here? I never really took you as someone who would go out of her way to do something like this," the half blood Uzumaki asked.

_'How the student of not one, but two perverts, one a self proclaimed Super Pervert, is this dense when it comes to females is just baffling. If Jiraiya hadn't tricked you into losing your virginty, I'd swear you didn't know what sex is and how it works,' _Kurama grumbled through their link.

The shrunken Bijū had been content to enjoy the rare time of silence and peace that his partner's cat friend had brought with her, but having Naruto as a container made it very hard to stay quiet. Especially when said blond was being his usual idiotic self.

Without even batting an eyelash Naruto grabbed Kurama by the scruff the neck and tossed the cursing kitsune into the distance, much to the shock of his friend as well as the other patrons who were seated around them.

Seeing Blake looking at him like he had just grown a second head, the blond shinobi waved his hands uncaringly, "Don't worry he'll be fine. Furball will just make his way back over here and try and get me back or something."

_'I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU, YOU BLOND BASTARD!'_

Deciding to not question the oddity that was the relationship between her friend and his fox partner, the young Faunus decided to answer the previous question, "I...need your advice."

Naruto was slightly surprised to hear Blake's normally even toned voice soften, her usually stoic face becoming downcast while her honey colored eyes became a sea of warring emotions. This threw the teen male for a loop for a moment. It was a strange sight to see the always calm and in control cat Faunus almost fall apart. Whatever was bothering her was not just troubling her, it was almost tearing her apart.

Then again as a Jinchūriki, Naruto was no stranger to knowing that many people walked around wearing a mask, a facade to cover up the inner turmoil that was kept bottled inside and away from public eye. Shoot he was practically the poster child for that. He had worn a mask for so long and played it off so well that he had to literally fight himself in order to fully realize who he was entirely, both the good and the bad.

Coming back to the present, the blond thought about the situation and instantly knew that there was only one thing that could be so consequential that it was causing someone so strong willed to act and look the way the young woman in front of him was, "Blake, don't doubt your teammates. They won't care that you're a Faunus. They may be a little hurt that you kept it from them for so long, but that will pass. Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss are far better people than that."

Taking a breath to steady herself and strengthen her resolve, Blake shook her head, "It's not just that. I know they wouldn't care about that, but...I...Naruto, I used to be a part of the White Fang."

Surprisingly, the blond Uzumaki was quick to respond, "Why'd you leave?"

Shocked at how quick her friend had responded and no doubt having thought that there would be more stunned silence on Naruto's end, Blake inquired, "What do you mean? Don't you care why I joined? What I-"

Cutting the cat girl off, Naruto shook his head, "Not important right now. Why did you leave?"

Looking down at her cup of tea, Blake began rubbing her arm as she remembered the day she had left the Faunus group, "I didn't want to use my skills for such a...disgusting cause. The White Fang used to be a group that strived for Faunus equality, but somewhere along the line that goal was twisted into something unrecognizable. When we started killing innocent people...I just couldn't do it anymore. It wasn't about equality anymore, it was about revenge at any price, even if that price was the lives of good innocent people."

Tensing herself, the young woman prepared herself for the rejection, the accusations. Naruto had more than made it clear how he felt about the White Fang in its current form and he would no doubt be disgusted to know that she had once upon a time been a part of that, assisting in the horrendous crimes that had been committed in the name of "equality". And she wouldn't blame him for that. She was guilty of it all, she was a criminal who had attempted to run away, to start a new life away from all of that, even going so far as to register for Beacon in some vain attempt at redeeming herself.

_'Who was I kidding? Life isn't a fairy tale, there is no redemption for someone like me,' _Blake berated herself.

"Ok then."

Wide eyed, the now revealed former member of the White Fang stared as her blond companion relaxed into his chair, crossing his arms behind his head in an uncaring manner, seemingly unfazed by what most would consider to be a huge revelation.

"Wh-what do you mean 'Ok then'?" Questioned Blake.

Naruto shrugged, "So you worked for the White Fang, so what? In the end you left, because you knew what they we're doing is wrong. All this means is that you're a good person."

For a moment, Blake was at a loss for what to say and could only stare in shock as the blond captain of team NNPR sat across from her with a small grin on his face.

Slowly a smile formed on her pale face as she softly chuckled at the absurdity of it all. The almost stupidly simple logic Naruto had used to explain why he was wholly unfazed by the news that one of his friends had been apart of what amounted to a terrorist group was just that, stupidly simple. It was almost childlike, and if Blake didn't know any better, she would have called the blond naive.

For the first time in a while, the young Faunus allowed herself to relax completely, to let down the walls she had raised in order to keep herself safe from those around her. It was...refreshing, to not constantly fear or worry over what people thought of you or how'd they react if they found out you were "different". The feeling that she could just be Blake Belladonna, the teenage girl - who just so happened to have cat ears and be going to school to become a Huntress - was something she hadn't felt since she was little, far before she knew about or could even really understand the horrendous gap between Faunus and human.

"We really should get back before Yang and Nora burn down the school or something," Naruto spoke, pulling Blake from her thoughts.

Allowing a smile of true happiness and contentment to slip across her face, the ravenette shook her head, "They'll be fine for a little longer."

In return our displaced shinobi shrugged, just as content as his companion to enjoy the calm and easy going mood that was brought on by the early Saturday morning.

That mood was completely destroyed when the elderly owner of the café made her way to their table and with a huge grin on her face asked, "So can I get anything else for the lovely couple?"

Blake's face instantly lit up with a blush coloring her once pale cheeks while Naruto was completely caught off guard and sputtered in both shock and embarrassment, mostly because what the woman had said caused him to look at his dark haired companion in a different light. He hadn't really paid her that kind of attention, what with being around Pyrrha and Yang. That wasn't to say Blake was any less attractive than them, but his teammate and the outspoken member of team RWBY had features that had caught his eye more, Pyrrha with her crimson locks and gentle nature, and Yang with her..."assets" and bold nature that occasionally mirrored his own brash attitude.

Blake however was different. His red haired teammate was more of the regal and "out of your league" beauty and Yang was that "sexy and I know it" good looking. The dark themed Faunus who sat in front of him was almost refined in her beauty. Being so silent and liking to keep to herself made it easy for one to simply forget how attractive she was with her porcelain skin, piercing amber eyes, and borderline sensual speaking voice.

Remembering the only other girl he had known who was also closely connected to cats, a fellow Jinchūriki at that, Naruto had to wonder, _'Why are all cat girls so hot?'_

The wizened woman only laughed at the looks her statement had caused, "Oh to be young again."

* * *

"But what if he was kidnapped by spies!? Maybe he's being held hostage by some terrorist group for ransom! Or maybe he was called to go on an epic quest to save a far off kingdom from a fierce dragon!"

"Nora...you need to stop putting so much syrup on your pancakes."

"NEVER!"

Under normal circumstances the red haired Huntress in training of team NNPR would have been laughing at the ridiculous situations that her fellow Huntress was imagining, but her worry for her friend and captain's safety had taken precedent in her mind.

Logically speaking she shouldn't be worried, knowing full well that Naruto could more than take care of himself under most circumstances. However that same logical part of her brain was quick to point out that while extremely powerful for his age, her blond captain was not invincible by any means. He could still be hurt, he could still bleed, and even worse, he could still be killed.

As that dreadful thought crossed her mind, the sound of someone knocking at their door pulled her from her worry invoked daze. Hoping that it was their missing whiskered blond come back from wherever he was, Pyrrha rushed to the door.

Opening it and seeing a shock of sun kissed blond hair, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. That was however taken back when she opened the door fully, revealing that knocking at the door was not the blond of team NNPR, but the blonde of team RWBY.

Before Pyrrha could even get a word in, a worried looking Ruby stepped into view and spoke, "Is Blake with you guys?"

Sighing, the taller red head shook her head, "No she's not."

"She's probably with Naruto then," Yang said with a shrug.

"Naruto has also been missing as well," Ren said, joining the conversation.

Clearly even more worried than before, Ruby interjected, "Wait so Naruto is missing as well? He didn't say where he was going?"

Seeing the sad shake of Pyrrha's head did nothing to ease the younger teen's fears.

Now beginning to realize the oddness of the situation, Yang became somewhat serious, "Blake didn't tell us anything either, and that's not like them to just up and leave without saying anything to someone."

With a huff, the final member of the all girl team jumped into the conversation, "Maybe we're just blowing this whole thing out of proportion. What if Blake asked Naruto to go with her somewhere or something?"

The other occupants of the room turned to look at Weiss as if she had grown a second head, "What!? Is it that weird that Blake and Naruto would actually get along?"

* * *

Browsing through one of the many book stores in Vales shopping district, Blake began to feel an odd tingling in her nose. That tingle soon became that familiar feeling and with a short intake of breath, the cat Faunus sneezed.

Naruto popped his head over the shelf that stood between him and his friend and said, "Bless you."

Rubbing her nose to get rid of the slightly itchy feeling left by the sudden sneeze, Blake replied, "Thanks."

Returning to her browsing, the young woman continued on with her previous conversation, "So you're godfather was an author? What's the title of one of his books?"

Busy browsing through his own half of the book shelf, Naruto shrugged, "His first book was 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. Sadly it wasn't a huge hit or anything, but my parents liked it enough to name me after the main character."

"So what about his other books?"

The sound of something hitting the floor caused Blake to look over the shelf to see her blond friend blushing as he picked up the books he had dropped.

Putting the last of the dropped books back on the shelf, Naruto sheepishly began to chuckle and rub the back of his head, "Uh...well, they were a little...different from his first book."

Quirking a brow, the stoic girl asked, "How so?"

"Uhhhh...well it was a series called...'Icha Icha'...," Just saying the name had Naruto feeling like he should bang his head on a wall or something. Jiraiya was many things, and he had been the male role model the blond so needed at a time of his life that could have made or broke him. However that didn't change the fact that at his roots, the famed Sage of Mt. Myōboku was an unrepentant and shameless pervert.

"...Make out?" Blake said with a blush lighting her cheeks as she realized what kind of books Naruto's godfather wrote. The title was simple, but no doubt did the job of describing exactly what the book entailed.

* * *

Not being able to resist, Ruby allowed a snort to escape as she laughed at her teammate, "Come on Weiss, Naruto and Blake getting along? That's like you and Nora becoming best friends or something."

At that, the room's occupants laughed at the absurdity of such a notion.

To be fair the thought did seem far fetched. As it was the Schnee heiress had very little interactions with team NNPR outside of her odd friendship with their blond captain and the few short talks she had with Pyrrha. The fact that, despite recent changes with her interactions with her team, and to a degree, Naruto, Weiss was still pretty stuck up and people like Nora just bothered her on principle alone, played a huge part.

Nora, while extremely bubbly and cheerful, held no love for the heiress of team RWBY, something which was again not that surprising. Again outside of their acknowledgement of each other during such times as this, they had nothing to say to the other. The fact that their personalities clashed so heavily and without their being a need for them to get along, the likelihood of the two young women actually becoming much more than acquittances was pretty much zero.

Putting fist to palm, the younger captain of team RWBY called out, "Looks like we'll have to assemble a search and rescue team to find our friends!"

For some reason as the three members of each team began to go over a game plan of sorts, Pyrrha had the sinking feeling that Naruto and Blake would end up finding them, in some of form of trouble.

* * *

For what had to be the dozenth time that morning, both Naruto and Blake sneezed within seconds of each other. They shared a look, both teens wondering what was causing them to sneeze like a kid with every allergy ever. Deciding that it was better left unexplored, the blond shrugged as the two continued their stroll out into one of the less populated areas of Vale.

The reason?

None really. Blake had already browsed quite a number of book shops and bought herself a small stack of the ones that had caught her eye. Naruto meanwhile had bought a small number of books that dealt with Dust and its uses as well as its manufacturing. Sure he had a number of Jutsu under his belt from each element that could far out do anything a Dust user could do, but learning how to use the stuff should he ever have to wouldn't be a bad thing.

With his own near ocean sized reserves and stamina it was highly unlikely he'd ever run out of chakra though, compound that with the fact that he could draw upon Nature chakra to bolster his reserves as well as borrow from Kurama who had an almost limitless amount of chakra, and it would take days for the blond to even come close to running out.

Still though, the concept of Dust and how the people of Remnant used it intrigued our blond protagonist. Thanks to Dust you didn't have to be aligned to a certain element to use it, in fact anyone was more than capable of using every element, a feat Shinobi were only capable of with decades of training or having access to a Kekkai Genkai. That didn't mean that the people of Remnant didn't align with certain elements more than others like those of the Elemental Countries. He had yet to see anyone outside of Weiss really use Dust though so at this point he was mostly going off of guess work.

_'Hmm actually I might have to talk to Princess later. She probably knows a lot about Dust and I did want to ask her about her glyphs,' _Naruto thought to himself.

_'As powerful as the ability to draw your seals on thin air like that would be, I doubt it is something she would be able to teach you. These Semblance powers are extremely unique to an individual, far more so than even the Kekkai Genkai of the Shinobi. In fact the only thing that children seem capable of inheriting from their parents is this Aura and possible elemental alignment,' _Kurama chimed in.

Being the pseudo child of the famed Sage of Six Paths, the origin of both chakra and a multitude of Kekkai Genkai, the Bijū had intimate knowledge of said topics. As such, the origin of Aura and Semblance intrigued the thousands of years old chakra construct due to the similarities and differences between the powers of the Shinobi and Huntsmen.

While Naruto and his foxy friend chatted through their mental link, Blake took the time to ponder her own thoughts that she had shoved to the back of her mind due to joy she had been feeling as she waltzed around Vale with her friend.

_'That look usually means Naruto is talking with Kurama. But how? They're not saying anything out loud. Then again Naruto did say that Kurama had been infused with his Aura from birth as some sort of experiment by his village. Wait, was he experimented on because he was a Faunus?'_

As the thought crossed her mind, the nagging curiosity began to gnaw at her, egging her on to get answers that would solve many of the mysteries that surrounded her blond friend.

"Naruto," Blake said simple in a bid to catch the blond's attention.

Seeing that she had both curious blue eyes and glaring crimson orbs staring at her, the young teen continued, "Were you the only Faunus in your village?"

The question actually caught Naruto off guard, not only because of how out of left field it came, but also because he hadn't thought anyone would ask something like that, content to know that he was a "Faunus" and that he came from a place called Konoha.

If the blonde wanted to continue the half truths trend that he had set thus far, he could say no, seeing as how both the Inuzuka and Aburame clans of his village were rather close to being Faunus like. Then again he had been the only Jinchūriki of Konoha, for obvious reasons, and as such didn't exactly have the best childhood due to being treated like the Faunus of Remnant - as a pariah, something that wasn't entirely human and so didn't deserve to be treated as one, a far cry from how the Inuzuka and Aburame clans were treated.

Raking a hand through his hair and sighing in a way to make it seem like it was a sore subject when really he was just buying time, Naruto wracked his brain. On one hand he could get pretty close to the truth and let Blake know why he sympathized with the Faunus and why he didn't agree with the methods of the White Fang. On the other he could be a proper shinobi and keep her at arm's length by telling a flat out lie and simply dodging the question as best he could.

_'Tch, you, a proper shinobi? You and I both know that you have never been a "proper " shinobi, it's why that one eyed sensei of yours gave you your nickname and also why you've been able to grow so strong and create bonds with people whom "proper" nin would have simply left to die. On top of that, remember, there is a 99.9% chance of us never being able to go back there. What's done is done. Remnant and Vale are now our home.'_

_'...Kurama?'_

_'Yeah, Kit?'_

_'Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you.'_

_'Probably dead or still being a dumbass.'_

Disregarding his closest friend's snarky comment knowing that it was simply how the Bijū was, Naruto not only decided on what his answer to Blake's question was, but also he had realized how right Kurama was.

Ever since he had come to Remnant he had been searching of a way to get back to his home, to the life he had built there while Kurama reminded him that the likelihood of that happening was all but zero. He had been telling half truths and hiding a number of things from his team as well as team RWBY in the hope that when he went back home, it wouldn't hurt him or them. But now, he really had no reason to hide behind lies and half truths. Like Kurama had said, Vale was now his home.

Albeit it probably wasn't the best idea to go up to his friends and tell them, "Hey yeah I'm actually a Shinobi from a different dimension and/or time period. Oh yeah the cute fox I keep with me? Yeah he's really a thousands of years old chakra monster that can pretty much destroy this place by accident."

So while he wouldn't be getting rid of the half truths entirely, he would start being a bit more honest and forthcoming, possible even hint at the truth so that when the time came for him to eventually tell the truth, it wouldn't be such a huge bomb to drop.

"Yeah I was the only one. My mom was also a...'Faunus' but because of some issues during my birth I lost both her and my dad."

Blake raised a brow at the odd way the blond had said the word Faunus, almost as if he was being a terrible liar before she shrugged it off in favor of the realization that not only was he the only Faunus of his home village, but he was also orphaned at a young age.

"I'm sorry! I didn't realize how-" Blake began, truly apologetic that she had no doubt drawn up some deeply traumatic memories.

Naruto merely shrugged, "You didn't know and besides, I've made my peace with it. I didn't have the best of childhoods, but it shaped me into who I am today. Plus I know that my parents truly loved me to their dying breath, and that's all I need to know."

The young cat Faunus smiled at how mature the usually goofy blond looked and handled the situation. It was a bit of an odd sight to see, Naruto being known more for his childishness than his maturity, but before her wasn't that same teen who had complained that the café didn't have ramen, but a man who had seen and done a lot, but still held tightly to his convictions and knew who he was as an individual.

"Why the sudden question?" Naruto asked, curious what had brought on such a random inquiry.

Turning to see that they had arrived at Vale's docks for both boats and airships, the two teens decided to relax for a bit and sat down at the edge of the concrete dock, their legs dangling over the surprisingly calm waters.

Leaning back on her hands, Blake allowed her gaze to stray out to the waters that met the falling sun, creating a burst of purples and reds in a beautiful contrasting view, "You and Kurama looked like you were talking, but weren't saying anything. I know you can talk to foxes, but you two looked like you were talking to each other in your minds which reminded that you had said Kurama had been an experiment by your village..."

Nodding his head as he leaned forward resting his arms on his thighs as he shared in the view of the beatifically painted horizon, Naruto continued from where Blake had left off, "And you were wondering if I was experimented on because of my being a...'Faunus', right?"

Raising a brow yet again at the odd way in which her blond friend seemed to say Faunus, she nonetheless nodded, far more curious about how villages outside the control of the four kingdoms handled the topic of Faunus.

"Like I said I didn't have the best of childhoods. Growing up people would either treat me like I didn't exist or like I was some nuisance that they had to deal with, because they had no choice. Nobody told me why and whenever I asked the leader of our village, one of the only people to give a damn about me, why, he'd just dodge the question, telling me they needed time," Naruto said with sorrowful look crossing his face. Just because he had come to terms with his past and the emotions that had been borne of it, didn't make it any less shitty.

Meanwhile his raven haired companion could only feel both anger and sadness. Anger that not only was someone as genuinely kind as Naruto having been treated like he didn't and shouldn't exist, but equally angry that no one told him why. To just leave him, a child no less, in the dark like that was cruel. It was for those same reasons that Blake was saddened, to hear how a child was left alone - no one to care for him, no one to tell him he was loved, no one to tell him that he mattered. As hard as she had it, at the end of the day she knew why she was treated differently, and even still she had other Faunus, her family that cared for her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the blond seated next to her sighed and continued, "But to answer your question, no, I wasn't experimented on. Really I wasn't abused, psychically at least. Wasn't till I was thirteen that I found out why I was treated so differently. It wasn't for another three years that I found out why no one was allowed to touch me or even try to."

That did raise some questions. Despite the people no doubt knowing of Naruto's status, he was never harmed physically which was odd. If they so despised his existence what had stopped them from taking out their disgust and aggression on him?

"When I turned sixteen, my godfather told me that my village's leader, the man I saw as a grandfather, had ordered that no one harm me or they would be put to death and he had an almost round the clock guard of our most elite warriors to make sure the law was carried out. At first I wondered why I needed so much protecting. My godfather answered that too. My father had been our previous leader. Ironically the people had loved him and he had been poised to become one of our village's strongest warriors, but he had died the night I was born, defending our home."

Blake couldn't help the scoff of disgust that escaped her lips. To love the father, but hate the son for something no one could control was abhorrent. It truly showed how narrow minded some people could be.

Laughing at the uncharacteristic scoff, Naruto nodded, "Yeah my reaction was kind of similar to that too."

_'You were so angry that you tapped into my chakra and drew up six tails worth of it and in your anger induced haze almost murdered that pervert you call a godfather. Yeah, real similar to a derisive scoff,' _Kurama snarked.

Deciding to ignore the shame he felt knowing that the Kyuubi was right, Naruto instead turned his gaze back out to the horizon as the hues of purple began to overtake the reds as the sun fell, the moon already having begun its own trek across the sky. It was a sight to see, something that literally happened everyday and yet was still so calming and beautiful.

Stretching out his hands and allowing a yawn to escape his lips, the half blood Uzumaki allowed himself to fall on his back, his arms resting behind his head and his legs still dangling over the wharf's edge. Blake drew her legs upwards and likewise turned her own gaze skyward as the moon brought with it the blanket of night and the sky was lit with the twinkling glow of the distant stars.

Silence reigned between the two, both more than comfortable enough to let the sounds of the water lapping at the concrete wall below them be the only noise to break that silence.

Not minutes later that serenity and sense of peace was shattered when an explosion rocked the pier with the recognizable sounds of battle following soon after.

Even still neither seemed all that bothered by the harsh sounds of bullet fire and steel clashing against steel. Instead Naruto only turned to look at Blake with a grin, "Five Lin that it's either your team or both of our teams involved in the fighting."

The usually stoic teen only raised an eyebrow in response before shrugging, "The likelihood of that being the case is slim to none. You're on."

Poor Blake of course didn't know that betting against Naruto Uzumaki was never a smart idea. The blond had the Devil's Luck and Lady Luck's blessing and at the age of 14 had cleaned out enough casinos that he could've retired and never had to work again. Put simply, betting against the Kyuubi Jinchūriki was tantamount to betting that the sun wouldn't rise from the east.

Leaping to their feet, the two calmly made their way to the sounds of fighting and explosions, seemingly in no rush. With casual ease, both teens leapt on top of one of the many stacks of shipping containers that dotted the wharf and the sight below them had Blake sighing and Naruto grinning cheekily.

There in the middle of the rather empty pseudo arena was the notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick. Currently the cane wielding man was doing his best to keep a certain red haired javelin user at bay while also dodging the sweeping strikes that came from the scythe wielding captain of team RWBY.

His accomplice, Neo, was merrily dodging every strike and punch that came from the combined duo of Yang and Weiss with that unnerving smile stretching across her pale face. It seemed that she was just toying with the Schnee heiress and busty brawler while they tried their damnedest to land a single hit on the diminutive girl.

Team NNPR's duo of best friends was meanwhile trying their best to land any sort of hit on Torchwick's boss who was keeping them at bay and far from her with her outlandish control over Dust, in this case being Fire element Dust. Nora seemed to have suffered quite a few hits from the stuff, the outer parts of her outfit being a little burned while Ren was quickly running out of steam having to dodge and maintain some form of attack while also helping out his childhood friend when he could.

Pyrrha and Ruby seemed to be more than capable of keeping Torchwick on the ropes, if his look of irritation was anyone to go by. Weiss and Yang could use some help, and Naruto knew from experience that the only way to get the upper hand on the ice cream themed girl was through speed. However the biggest threat was no doubt the head honcho herself. Even Naruto would admit that Nora and Ren working as team Pancake was a force to be reckoned with and for this woman to so easily keep them at bay spoke volumes about her own skills.

His mind working a mile a minute, Naruto finally decided on what he thought was the beat course of action, "Blake, go help out Yang and Weiss. The only way to beat that girl is to out-speed her."

Deciding to wait till after to ask how her blond friend knew that, Blake nodded and quickly leapt into the fray, grabbing her weapon from her back and already moving to provide her teammates with much needed back up.

Pulling out his own weapon, Naruto was soon jumping into the midst of the fighting himself. Vanishing from normal human eyesight, the blond made a bee line for his own teammates who looked ready to collapse any second now. Blurring through a series of one handed hand seals, the Jinchūriki appeared in front of the downed duo of friends and called out, "Suiton: Suijinheki _(Water Release: Water Formation Wall)_!"

To everyone's surprise a massive torrential wall of water rose around Naruto, Ren, and Nora, protecting the three teens from the stream of flames that had been aimed at them. In the face of such an insurmountable defense, the raging flames sputtered and died, turning into vapor and clouding the area with a fog.

_'If I'm gonna stop hiding all the time, I guess it's ok to start busting out the jutsu, right Kurama?'_

_'Bout damn time Kit! Let's show these people how we do it!'_

What happened next had everyone in the area holding their ears to block out the screeching noise that began to grow louder and louder with each passing second. In seconds, strong winds began to blow throughout the wharf, dispelling the fog in seconds and revealing a grinning Naruto holding something that none of the spectators had ever seen before.

Spinning wildly and held above of his head was what looked to be an overly large shuriken made entirely of pure wind. At the center of the deadly looking attack was a glowing blue sphere that sat in the palm of the blond Jinchūriki's hand. With a casual heave, Naruto tossed the violently whirling attack and called out, "Fūton: Rasenshuriken _(Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken)_!"

Fearing what such a devastating looking attack could do if it actually hit, the wide eyed woman dodged out of the way of the oncoming shuriken and even still the near gale force winds that surrounded orb of death were able to produce cuts in her dress and even cut shallow trenches into her calves.

As the spinning attack flew past everyone and into the waters in the distance, Naruto finally allowed his control over it to be cut and the consequences of that action had everyone staring in awe at the results. The winds that had been the makeup of the attack rushed outwards, creating waves that slammed into the concrete barriers of the pier and even then, the winds managed to whip into those on the battlefield with enough force that they had to actually exert force so as to not be carried away.

Meanwhile as the core of the attack detonated, blades of wind capable of cutting into an enemy on an atomic level, slammed into the waters below, churning out colossal waves that further flooded the already wet wharf.

Around them the sounds shipping freights scraping across the ground as they were forcible pushed back by the concussive waves of air echoed across the wharf.

Finally, as the backlash of what Naruto had just unleashed receded, the villains decided that fleeing was the best course of action, hopping into a nearby helicopter that was quickly attempting to escape the dangerous blond.

Uzumaki Naruto did not give up that easily though and was already speeding through another set of seals. Right as it looked like the group of criminals had escaped, he unleashed a torrent of flames from his mouth, "Katon: Karyū Endan _(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)_!"

On board the escaping heli, the group of criminals began to panic as the roaring maw of dragon made entirely of flames closed in on them, intent on bringing them to a burning grave. Rushing to one of the side doors, the mysterious leader conjured up her own wall of flames, the fearsome inferno that had taken on a draconian image slamming full force into her own blazing attack.

The resulting explosion rocked the escape vehicle and the nearby shipping containers and yet still they managed to escape, however not unscathed.

_'That boy...I need him on my side even more now. He is far too powerful to not and I will have him, one way or another.'_

* * *

Sighing as he watched the escaping hunk of metal, Naruto shook his head, _'This is gonna come back to bite me in the ass, I just know it.'_

_'More than likely. However at least they now fear you and know that messing with you or those around you would not be a smart move on their part. It may stop them and help us later on down the road,' _Kurama spoke.

Turning around, the blond was quick to realize the amount of devastation he had caused with only three attacks, none of which being his strongest either. What made it worse were the dumbfounded looks his own team and team RWBY were sending him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOXY!?" Yang shouted as she flailed her arms about in a manner none too unlike her younger sister.

"I found you Ruby!"

Said scythe wielder screamed in shock, "Ah! Penny! What're you doing here!?"

Soon after the blaring sounds of sirens along with the bright lights of search lights flooded the pier.

_'Maybe I should have just stuck to the whole half truth thing.'_

_'You and I both know that this is way more fun though.'_

_'Says the fox whose idea of fun is destroying villages.'_

_'Not my fault you ningen make everything so fragile'_

_'...this is gonna be a loooong night.'_

* * *

**AN: **Annndd cut!

While searching the internets I found that the fans seem to agree that Remnant's, or at least Vale's, form of currency is called the Lin (Lien). I have no clue how it translates to dollars, yen, or what have you and being terrible at math I will not try to convert it so let's just 1 Lin = $1. Cool? Cool.

This chapter was interesting. I was like a 1000 or so words into it before I was like "No that's terrible!" And completely started over. First time I've done that. I also tried to not only edit better, but just write better and more descriptively.

I've been told I do a lot of "tell not show" so I'm trying to remedy that. Case in point, I said Naruto and Pyrrha are close. Aside from a few short moments, I've done nothing to say how or why that's a thing, something I plan to fix. That in mind I decided to start doing better at that by showing how Naruto and Blake will form their own little friendship and, if it comes down to it, where they begin to form romantic feelings.

The other change is the whole no more lying and hiding stuff thing. I get why most bitch and moan about Naruto spilling his whole life story when people write him into crossovers. However what those same people seem to forget is that A) Naruto is a blabber mouth. That's like one of his key personality traits. B) if the author has no plans for Naruto to go back to Konoha or wherever (be it a different dimension or time period) then why the fuck should he keep it a secret? Logically speaking it's not like anyone (friend or foe) can do much with that info aside from being like "Cool story bruh. I r8 8/8, would read again."

So yeah, Naruto will start being...well a Shinobi regardless of who's around. This also means he'll start revealing his skills and true past to his teammates. Not all at once, but in bits.

I've also seen some people saying that Naruto could pretty much singlehandedly take down all of Remnant. That is true for the Naruto at the end of the manga after having fought Kaguya and all that. Maybe this is post VOTE Naruto? Maybe this is mid or post Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto. Y'all don't know! Haha. I do though and like I said, how he ended up in Remanant and at what time he left Konoha will be revealed.

In other news, the chapter would have been done sooner, but I've been working my ass off in my newly acquired home studio and I just bought the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii U. Didn't play it when it was on the GameCube originally so I'm making up for lost time. Already beat 1 and now a few hours into 2. Great fucking game series. Long and really taxing, but fun all the same.

Once again I'd like to thank all of you who review. Hit that 330 mark (as I'm typing this) and that's pretty fucking cool. Keep it coming.

As usual, any comments, criticisms, or questions, leave a review. Want something answered quickly or just looking to chat? Shoot me a pm.

I may change the summary for this story as I feel it's...meh at best so we'll see how that goes. Also thinking about getting a separate Twitter for my fanfic stuff. I have one, but that's more for whatever random shit I happen to think/see/do.

Anyone know of any good artists who take commissions by the way? Willing to pay, but it has to be good work.

Have a great day/night and see you when the next chapter comes out!

Peace!


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **So normally I wait a few days for the reviews to trickle in to even begin thinking about writing the next chapter however the overwhelming flood of helpful critiques as well as praise compounded by my going back to watch the World of Remnant mini-series thing as well as the Volume 2 finale just got me super stoked to put out a new chapter ASAP.

Before I get ahead of myself I'd like to acknowledge the usual people who have become regular reviewers, you know who you are. Of course a shoutout to those who took the time to dissect last chapter and a huge thank you to those who left me critiques and general advice, it helps me get better at writing and improve the quality of the things I show to you all.

Questions/Comments/Concerns that a majority seem to be curious about:

**Q**: "Why did the others not see Naruto and Blake getting along?"

**A**: Like I previously said, the two are almost polar opposites in personality and to everyone else's knowledge they don't have anything in common. Of course we know different. They also lack a reason to get along. If it weren't for being on a team there would be no way that team RWBY would get along as well as they do.

On a related question: why did Weiss think they got along? She didn't and doesn't know that they do, but knowing Naruto and also not generally being as worried for the two as say Ruby and Pyrrha, she thought it was a possibility.

**Q/C**: "Cinder will never convert Naruto to the dark side!"

**A**: It is still far to early to assume that Cinder is actually evil, if anything it's quite heavily hinted that not all is as it seems. I'm willing to bet that the Volume 2 song Sacrifice is tied to Cinder and with lines like "Born an angel, heaven sent, falls from grace are never elegant", "Show them gods and deities, blind and keep the people on their knees", and more, well Cinder either A) knows some dirty little secret about Vale or all the kingdoms and is trying to show people or B) Was a former Huntress and due to a tragedy, became disillusioned with the life. Either way there is a lot more to Cinder Fall than just being a cliched villainess.

**Q**: "Why are Cinder and Neo showing up more often?"

**A**: Cinder is now interested in Naruto and wants to recruit him. That in mind she now wants as many chances to encounter our favorite blond to further that goal and so will make more appearances, with and without Torchwick. Neo? I just love her and think she deserved more screen time.

**Q**: "What about the pairing!? Will it be a harem!?"

**A**: The pairing is not even close to being at the forefront of my mind or writing goal. It will more than likely NOT be a harem as my track record with those isn't the greatest. Also this isn't Konoha where I can say CRA and boom! Polygamy is suddenly ok. Then again Yang and Ruby's dad apparently gets around quite a bit. Yang's mom Raven disappears and he's like "Guess I'll get a new one" and ends up with Ruby's mom Summer. She dies and...idk. I doubt he'd go back to Handgelina Jolie though.

**Q**: "What time arc of Naruto is Naruto from?"

**A**: refer to SuperSageNaruto's rather lengthy review on the topic (should be about pg 3 or 4 of the reviews at this time). That dude gets it so kudos to him/her.

**Q/C**: "You left out (insert scene) explaining how (this/that) happened."

**A**: anytime I do this, I do so knowingly and for a reason...99% of the time at least. Those "missing" scenes will be explained at a later date. Patience.

All other questions I felt could be answered by you all being patient and waiting for me to actually get to them in the story so hold onto your freaking underwear and if you're not wearing any...well that's none of my business.

I got the Tokyo Ghoul and Deadman Wonderland openings, Skullclub episodes/mixes, and Nine Shrines queued on YouTube and ready to play so let's get into it!

* * *

"Ya know I'd have thought most people wouldn't want to fight me after my little display at the docks," Naruto called out cockily to his sparring partner.

Said partner, the red haired beauty of team NNPR, shrugged, "It just gives me more reason to want to spar with you, so I can improve."

And there it was. The reason, or at least one of them, that the blond Jinchūriki found himself attracted to his teammate and partner. She wasn't like most people who, upon attaining a certain level of strength, became content. No, Pyrrha was always striving to better herself in some capacity, be it her battle prowess or even herself as a person. And it wasn't for some selfish or contrived reason. No, the young battle prodigy simply wanted to be a better person for the sake of it and to better help those around her.

To Naruto, who was willing to lay down limb and life for those he considered his precious people, it was an endearing quality. Sure he knew that Jiraiya, Tsunade, and even Kakashi were more than willing to - and had in the past - put themselves in harm's way to protect him, but to have that same level of loyalty and caring returned to him by someone his own age and of the opposite sex was new and inviting.

Even amongst his peers, the Rookie 12, he had never felt that they would go above and beyond should push come to shove. Even when they found out he housed the chakra monster responsible for almost wiping Konoha off the map, he felt no closer to them. If anything they were more likely to keep him at arm's length. To their credit it wasn't out of fear of him, but more fear of what would happen in the worst case scenario, which as shinobi one always had to be prepared for.

Stretching out his limbs and pumping chakra throughout his body in preparation for what would no doubt be a blood pumping spar, Naruto chuckled, "Alright so any rules or restrictions?"

Pyrrha followed her partner's example and began to go through her own series of stretches, "While I'd like to ask you to at least try as hard as you did down on the pier, but I don't think it'd be a smart idea."

The blond had to give the green eyed Huntress-to-be credit, while he could underpower his jutsu so that they weren't as lethal or as destructive as they had been on that night, it still wouldn't lessen the fact that he would be breathing flames that took on the form of a mythical beast.

Sparring with other Shinobi meant that you at least had a vague idea of what your opponent could do, especially if you knew what village they hailed from. Here in the world of Remnant where the term ninja invoked the image of people sneaking around in black pajamas, no one would guess that Naruto's version of a ninja meant giving the finger to the laws of physics and telling Newton to shove an apple where the sun don't shine.

As such for anyone to be prepared to properly fight Naruto they would either have to fight him enough times to know what to expect or be given a cheat sheet with all of his attacks and what they did on it.

Pyrrha being Pyrrha had obviously decided to go for the former.

"Alright so I'll keep it small scale and go from there. That alright?"

Switching Miló into its javelin form while gripping Akoúo with her other hand, Pyrrha gave a firm nod.

Seeing that his friend was in her battle mode, Naruto decided that he'd give the "Invincible Girl" a harsher run for her money and pulled out Hi no Ishi. He had also realized that he hadn't really been using the weapon which was a shame seeing as he had went through the trouble of making it himself with Kurama's help.

Resolving to start using the shakujo more often, Naruto's normally bright blue eyes hardened and gained a frosty cold glint to them. He wanted Pyrrha to grow stronger just as much she herself did and to do that meant he couldn't fool around. No, he was going to put her through her paces and then some.

With an unseen and unheard signal, the two were off in a burst of speed. Naruto, being far faster than Pyrrha, managed to cross more than half the field in the time it had taken her to cover a third of it and was already aiming a horizontal swing at her abdomen.

Having sparred with her blond leader numerous times by this point, the young woman was more than prepared for this and brought up Akoúo just in time. What she wasn't prepared for was the amount of force behind the swing. Having Nora on her team, Pyrrha was no stranger to having to evade or defend against hits that could shatter concrete and dent steel. However the swing from Naruto had felt like she had just tried to stop a speeding train.

Needing time to reorient herself with the increased strength and come up with a battle plan, the redhead warrior attempted to give herself some breathing room by shoving Naruto and his shakujo aside with her shield. She followed this up by quickly shifting Miló into its rifle form and firing a succession of bullets aimed at the Kyūbi container's abdomen.

Again Pyrrha was caught flat footed when, in a show of grace, Naruto easily spun out of the way of the bullets and shoved a palm into her sternum. Her mind had no time to comprehend what happened in the next few seconds and the next thing she knew was that she had a lovely view of the ceiling and was struggling to get air into her lungs.

A minute or so later, and having finally managed to get some much needed oxygen into her system, the green eyed teen struggled to her feet, using Miló as a crutch.

"You wanted me to fight at the level I did on the pier. It's only gonna get harder from here on in," Naruto twirled his staff.

Only now was Pyrrha realizing what she was up against. She always had an inkling that her whiskered captain was holding back in their fights and that he was far stronger than he let on. To be fair she wasn't going all out either, not having used her Semblance yet and it seemed that Naruto knew this and was hinting that to even pose a challenge, she would have to give it her all.

Using her Aura to numb the pain until it was a dull throb, Pyrrha looked up with her light green eyes gaining their own edge to them. Smirking as the red head readied herself for another round, Naruto rushed to meet her, intent on making his partner take this seriously.

Swinging his shakujo with an almost casual ease, the blond Uzumaki raised a brow as instead of blocking the strike with her shield, Pyrrha had instead opted to catch the blunt weapon with Miló in short sword form.

Feeling Hi no Ishi suddenly gain what felt like several hundred pounds, Naruto realized too late what was happening and received Akoúo to the face for his troubles.

Pyrrha expected to hear the harsh crack of bone breaking, but was instead met with a face full of smoke. Waving away the small grey cloud, the redhead was shocked to see a grinning Naruto casually twirling his staff, looking like he had never moved from his spot.

Already knowing that his sparring partner would be extremely curious as to how he had managed to escape a hit that would have broken his jaw and nose, Naruto moulded his chakra into the needed form and without the need for seals, summoned a doppelgänger who stood at his side, the same grin stretching across its own whiskered cheeks.

"This is my signature technique, Kage Bunshin no jutsu, which roughly translates to Shadow Clone technique. It lets me create as many copies of myself as I want and each is more than capable of dealing out some damage. But, they can only take a single hit before popping, which I still haven't figured out how to fix."

While Naruto was no doubt leaving out a lot of the more technical aspects of the technique, Pyrrha understood the gist of it. Her captain could clone himself at will and, while highly brittle, they were armed with the same knowledge as the original. The only question now was how strong were they in comparison to their creator.

Her analytical mind already racing, the young Huntress in training theorized that it was highly unlikely that they were just as strong as their creator, as not only would that defy at least ten different laws of nature and physics, but it would also be highly unfair.

However Naruto had said that it was his signature technique which meant he no doubt could control how strong each copy was along with all of the other aspects of.

In the end this just meant this spar was going to be a lot harder than she first thought.

Seeing as how Pyrrha had decided to start using her Semblance, and with the hardened glint in her eye, Naruto knew that he was about to find out how his friend had earned the title of "The Invincible Girl".

Then again he wasn't called "Konoha's Most Surprising Ninja" for nothing either.

* * *

"Your Semblance is really impressive Naruto," Pyrrha said as she wiped her face of the dirt and grime that had been the result of her spar with her friend and captain.

The blond leader of NNPR only rose a brow, "Says the girl who can control metal."

Having never seen his partner use her Semblance seriously, he had been surprised to find out that she could control it to a great enough degree that she could almost close the gap between them. If she wanted to slow him down all she had to do was make his weapon, kunai, or his other hidden ninja gear weigh a hundred pounds or more. If she needed to avoid a swing, she could just "push" him away by using the same method.

She could even direct her own weapons with her control over Polarity and use Akoúo as a sort of heat seeking frisbee of death.

In a world full of metal, Pyrrha's Semblance was almost unfairly powerful.

But still even she had her limits. Naruto had found that the red headed warrior needed to "tag" the item she wanted to control either by touching it or having it be within a small area around herself, the latter being far more taxing as she needed to exert her Aura outwards which took quite a bit of concentration and effort.

The other problem was her Aura reserve. She didn't have an endless supply of the stuff and while running out of Aura could not cause one to collapse or even die, it did leave the user fatigued.

Even still, Pyrrha seemed to know her limits very well and was good at planning out her moves, even in the heat of battle which combined with her own natural talent and skill and her almost hax level Semblance made for a rather deadly combination.

"Fair enough, but I can't create an almost endless supply of corporeal clones or use wind as a weapon," the sweaty teen replied.

Naruto just childishly pouted and stuck his tongue out at her in reply, to which both had a good laugh at. As the sun slowly began its downward trek across the sky, there was a lapse of silence between the two, which neither seemed all that bothered by.

Remembering that there was something that had been bothering her ever since the whole fiasco in the cafeteria and with the night on the pier adding onto it, Pyrrha decided to voice her concerns, "Hey, Naruto?" Hearing said blond offer a hum in confirmation, she continued, "What was Konoha like?"

Turning his gaze from the view, the displaced Shinobi seemed genuinely shocked that someone had asked about his home village. Seeing the look of surprise hurt the redhead, knowing that it meant he hadn't expected anyone to show interest in the place he was born, to show interest in his past and where he came from.

However that surprise shifted as ocean blue eyes turned back to gaze at the sunset as a fond smile stretched across whiskered cheeks, "It was a lot different from Vale. The village was surrounded by nature and there was never a lack of greenery, it wasn't called the Village Hidden in the Leaves for nothing after all. But my favorite spot in the village was the Hokage Monument, this huge mountain that overlooked Konoha and had the faces of each our leaders carved into. Whenever I needed somewhere to think I would climb up it and sit on our fourth leader's head, the Yondaime Hokage, who happened to be my father."

Pyrrha found herself lost in the oceanic blue eyes of her friend as he described his home, but was pulled out of it when her interest was piqued upon hearing Naruto mention his parents, "Your dad was one of your village's leaders?"

Having lost himself in memories, Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah he was. His name was Minato Namikaze."

Having intended to get to know her friend and his past even more, Pyrrha was instead finding herself with even more questions than she had before.

"But I thought your last name was Uzumaki?"

Naruto frowned in thought, "It is. My dad made a name for himself by inventing two of our villages most powerful attacks and using them to wipe out a whole battalion of enemy forces which is one of the reasons he was chosen to be the Fourth. But, because of that he earned himself some enemies and the policies he was trying to implement as leader got him enemies in the village. When him and my mom died, everyone thought it was best I not keep the name Namikaze so I wouldn't have to worry about assassins or people trying to use me as a political pawn."

Seeing as it was quite a bit of information to take in, Naruto paused and gave the redhead time to think and go over what she had just heard. He didn't mind telling her about his parentage due to the fact that the name Minato Namikaze and his feared reputation as the "Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō _(Yellow Flash of_ _Konoha)_" meant nothing here. There was no Iwa or Kumo Nin who feared and hated him here in Remnant. There were no Nin period.

This also meant being the son of the infamous Yondaime meant just as little, which was fine with Naruto. He had grown up an orphan and even when he did find out who his dad was, it did nothing to change who he had come to be, a sentiment shared by those who truly cared for the blond Jinchūriki.

Meanwhile Pyrrha was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that, by all rights, her whiskered leader was the closest thing his village had to royalty. Seeing how powerful he already was at seventeen, and having seen beforehand how charismatic and determined the young man was, she had no doubt Naruto had been poised to follow in his father's footsteps and take over as this, Hokage.

Wanting to shift the conversation from such a sombre topic, Pyrrha decided to ask another question, "What about your mom?"

Almost instantly the unnaturally, on him at least, serious look flipped and was replaced by a smile filled with warmth and eyes burning with fondness, "My mom was named Kushina Uzumaki. A lot of people say that while I look almost exactly like my dad, I got my personality from her. She had long fiery red hair, violet eyes, and well, people say she was one of the most beautiful women in our village."

_'Is that why he's always staring at my hair?'_ Pyrhha pondered. Naruto had thought he was being sneaky about it, but she would occasionally catch him gazing at her hair, especially when she wore it down. If he did it out of remembrance of his mother, who was apparently strikingly beautiful, it was a big compliment for her.

Nonetheless, it warmed her heart to see her friend look so happy at the memory of someone so undoubtedly wonderful. Really both of Naruto's parents sounded amazing - his father the powerful and no doubt charismatic leader and his mother, the beautiful and strong willed woman to compliment him. It was almost like a fairy tale with how perfect their family would have been.

"Enough about me though. What about you Pyrrha?"

Said teen blushed upon realizing that she had been staring at Naruto's face, "Umm, what about me?"

Shaking his head with a chuckle, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki replied, "Well what about your home? What was it like at Sanctum?"

The flinch that followed the last part of Naruto's question would have been missed by most people, but being a Shinobi and having had Konoha's greatest spymaster as his godfather and sensei had left the half blood Uzumaki with the skill to be able to pick out even the most suppressed of reactions.

The need to push for answers never arose though, "Sanctum...wasn't...as enjoyable for me as it was for others." Seeing Naruto's raised brow and concerned eyes, Pyrrha mustered up the strength to continue, "I performed excellently in almost every area and well you know that I earned myself the title of 'The Invincible Girl' and while my family was proud it...it made it hard for me to find friends. Everybody either didn't talk to me because they thought I was too far out of their league or they wanted something from me, like I owed them something."

"Well that's dumb."

That one simple phrase broke Pyrrha out of her sullen walk down memory lane. While she had long since come to terms with the hurdles placed in front of her due to her status and fame, she never thought she'd meet someone so unaffected by it. Weiss, the heiress to one of the most wealthy families in Vale and Remnant as a whole, had almost begged her just to be her partner on their first day at Beacon, because of her own reputation. Even Ren and Nora had seemed a little surprised to find out that they were on the same team as her.

Naruto however simply didn't seem to care.

"Naruto..." She uttered.

"I've never really cared for titles or all that other fancy crap. To me you're not 'The Invincible Girl' or whatever, you're Pyrrha Nikos, my friend and partner...who just happens to be really strong and beautiful."

As the last part of his little speech left his mouth, Naruto's eyes widened.

_'Shit, shit, shit! Damn you brain! Damn you red hair!'_

In that instant Pyrrha's face was lit by a blush dusting her cheeks. Being told she was beautiful was nothing new to her and Naruto had already let it slip once before and just like that time, it was the sincerity with which it was said that caused her to blush.

Or maybe it was the entire moment. Here she was getting to know her partner and, now, closest friend in a way that she had never really been able to do with anyone outside of her family. It was almost surreal for her, finally getting what she had so longed for since her rise to fame. And with someone so...uniquely himself. While not normally a gambling person, the red haired beauty was willing to bet that there was no one like Naruto, as cheesy as that may sound.

"Wait! We don't have a shipping name yet!"

And with that, the hyperactive team member of team NNPR shattered both the awkward tension and the budding romantic one with ease by seating herself between her teammates with a look of deep concentration on her face.

"Nora! I told you to leave them alone!" Came the cry of the final member of team NNPR.

"But Ren! We can't have a pairing without a proper shipping name!"

While both Naruto and Pyrrha stared in shock and embarrassment, Ren simply sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Nora, what have I told you about that?"

With a childish pout the eccentric teen replied, "To wait until they're an actual couple."

Realizing that it was Nora, Naruto and Pyrrha recovered from their shock and began to laugh at the oddity that was their teammate. At the same time, the blond leader came to the conclusion that it had been awhile since they hung out as a team - as friends - and hailing from the ninja village that emphasized teamwork and camaraderie above all else, that was a no no.

Standing to his feet, Naruto brushed off his pants and jacket, "Team! Seeing as it's Saturday and we've finished our work for the day, as your captain I declare today...a team bonding day!"

Nora cheered at the declaration while both Ren and Pyrrha simply smiled, the red head's being more noticeable as she absentmindedly gazed at her friend.

That smile soon turned into giggling though as the blond Jinchūriki looked at their current attire. Both Ren and Nora were still in their school uniform, while he and Pyrrha were in their battle clothes and looked - and more than likely smelled - rather foul.

"After a shower and change of clothes that is," Naruto chuckled.

* * *

A freshly showered and casually dressed team NNPR made their way through the streets of Vale, the team laughing at the plight of their captain.

"How does Vale seriously not have one damn ramen stand!?"

Garbed in a set of black jeans, a burnt orange shirt with the Uzumaki family crest emblazoned in black on the chest area, and his old Konoha headband tied loosely around his neck, Naruto childishly fumed at his so far futile attempts at finding a simple ramen stand.

"I don't think we'd find one in the shopping district, Naruto," a still chuckling Pyrrha responded. Dressed in a pair of form fitting blue jeans with a simple black top that bore her own unique symbol at the bottom left portion of it, and her crimson locks done up in a simple ponytail, the statuesque teen still managed to turn quite a number of heads, not that she was paying attention to that.

Prancing around in her pink skirt and white blouse with her insignia printed in a matching pink on her chest, Nora garnered her own fair share of stares, mostly due to the fact that despite her age she was acting like a five year old on a sugar high, seemingly ignorant to both the stares and her captain's plight.

Ren, despite his friend dancing around singing something she referred to as the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and his leader whining like a spoiled child who didn't get the candy they wanted, seemed unsuitably at peace. He had likewise gone with the simple style of clothing his teammates had and was dressed in a pair of white jeans and a forest green hoodie, his flowery symbol stitched into the pouch of the thin clothing article.

Finally deciding to give up on his search for his own personal ambrosia, again, Naruto sighed, "Well there goes my idea. Anyone got anything they wanna try?"

No doubt wanting to give his childhood friend something to occupy her lest she cause some form of trouble, the long haired male spoke up, "There's a weapon's shop up ahead. We can see if there's anything interesting in there."

Seeing as how Beacon didn't provide its students with ammo or anything, the rest of the team agreed, needing to stock up on their own preferred ammo of choice.

Despite the seemingly unassuming exterior, team NNPR were a little surprised to see that the interior of the store was tediously well kept and organized with a wealth of variety from the basic and mundane to the eccentric and expensive.

"Welcome to Achievement Hunter's Weapon Shop! Anything that cuts, pierces - or my personal favorite - goes boom, we got it. My name's Jack, how can I help ya?"

Blinking at the the bearded man that stood in front of them, the four teens found themselves at a loss for words. His entrance and subsequent speech had come so abruptly that not even Nora knew how to respond to the situation. Of course that soon came to an end when the word "boom" clicked in the equally eccentric girl's mind and with a squeal she was gone, no doubt to get ammo for Magnahild.

With a sigh Ren ventured off after her to make sure she didn't blow up the store or break anything that would end up costing him in the long run.

Coming out of their own stupor, both Pyrrha and Naruto blinked, the blond speaking up, "Actually yeah, I was wondering if you guys had any of these."

Reaching into the singular weapon's pouch, the only one that was visible at least, Naruto showed the store worker a spool of his ninja wire as well as a kunai and shuriken.

Eyeing the odd choice of weaponry, the large man hummed in thought whilst rubbing his beard, "Well kid, I'll say this, you got an interesting taste in weapons. But like I said, if it's sharp and pointy, we carry it, so yeah we have a few packs of those shuriken and kunai. The wire on the other hand, I'm afraid that's not something we carry. I can check and see if we got anything similar though." Seeing Naruto's shrug, the apparent lover of all things explosive jerked a thumb to a shelf in a corner, "Well we got our kunai and shuriken over there so feel free to browse while I see what I can do."

Taking the shop worker's advice, Naruto made his way over to the shelf to see what they had while Pyrrha ventured off to see what else the store had to offer. On the way to the aisle the blond passed by another customer, but he was unable to see her face as her back was turned to him, though he was struck by a strange sense of familiarity as he glanced at the stranger's long raven locks and petite build.

The teen shinobi was tempted to simply brush the feeling off, but both Kurama and Jiraiya had drilled it into him to always trust his instincts, no matter how far fetched they may seem. As he browsed through the varying types of kunai the weapon's store had to offer and simultaneously kept an eye on the nearby stranger, Naruto wanted to bash his head in as the person turned and revealed a set of burning amber eyes.

Browsing through a shelf full of various vials of basic Dust was the woman who was supposedly the real leader of Torchwick and his whole outfit.

The situation went even further downhill as the woman turned and, with wide eyes, stared straight at the frustrated teen.

_'What in the nine circles of hell did I do in a past life to deserve this Kami?'_

The booming laughter of Kurama echoed throughout the recesses of his mind, _'Hahaha! This is just priceless! Can we just kill her now? Pretty please?'_

The blond Jinchūriki was sorely tempted to say yes to his tenant, however the ensuing battle would more than likely leave the entirety of Vale's shopping district in shambles. Plus there was a high risk his team would try and get involved and he knew that they were no match for this woman who had managed to defeat both Ren and Nora with utter ease.

No, to defeat her he'd have to bring out the big guns and really let loose.

_'Spoil sport.'_

Naruto was stopped from giving his furry partner a retort when the woman sauntered up to him with a sultry smirk stretching across her flawless face. The smoky voice that followed sounded almost like sex in verbal form, "I didn't think I'd run into you here of all places."

"Yeah, I didn't think a crime boss like you was one for shopping like normal people," Naruto bit back.

The raven haired woman seemed unperturbed by this and just continued to gaze into his sapphire orbs with her own searing amber eyes, "The only crime boss is that buffoon Roman. Even then he's a poor excuse for one."

Before Naruto could reply, his Bijū decided to deliver some rather shocking news, _'Kit, wait! Remember how I said that there were only two negative auras that night?'_

_'Yeah, what of it?'_

With a grim look stretched across his face, the fox dropped the bomb, _'She's not one of them.'_

The muscles in Naruto's jaw tightened visibly as he gazed down at the much smaller woman who seemed far too calm for the current situation. Meanwhile his mind raced as it tried to cope with the new information.

Kurama's Negative Emotion sensing ability was never wrong, ever. There was no feasible way for even the other Tailed Beasts to trick it.

"What's your game?" Naruto spoke at last in a tone that showed he wasn't in the mood for playing around.

Again the woman seemed not at all bothered by the change in demeanor, only raising a singular brow, "You don't expect a woman to give away all her secrets to a random stranger, do you?"

"It was worth a shot," Naruto admitted.

"Well we don't have any of that wire, but...," Jack, the store worker took note of the situation and smiled, "Hey! I didn't know you knew this guy Cinder! Were you the one who told him about us?"

The now named Cinder simply smirked and spoke without tearing her gaze away from Naruto's, "No. Unfortunately we were both a little...preoccupied during our last few meetings."

Oblivious to the tension of the moment, the bearded man shrugged, "Alright well I'm gonna go make sure that orange haired friend of yours doesn't break anything. I didn't like the way she was looking at some of our higher caliber explosive rounds."

When he felt that Jack was sufficiently out of earshot, Naruto spoke, "Cinder?"

"Cinder Fall," She replied a little too easily.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

This only seemed to make Cinder happier, "So my research was correct after all. You're a Shinobi."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously, "How the heck do you know that?"

He wasn't so much worried about her, or anyone for that matter, knowing about his previous occupation, but he had thought that there would be no other way for people to find out unless he personally revealed it to them. Apparently he had been wrong.

"It was a lot harder to find than you'd think, but the way you said your name confirmed my suspicions. I had to dig through countless ages old tomes that dated back to before even the discovery of Dust and the apparent birth of Grimm. But in one ancient scroll I found a passage that spoke of a people who could do the impossible - defy gravity by walking up walls, walk on water as if it were solid ground, and even command the very elements themselves. They were called Shinobi and used something called Chakra to perform all of these almost God like feats."

_'Wait, if what she says is true then...'_

_'Your silver haired sensei's Sharingan didn't send us to a different dimension, it sent us into the future, the far future.'_

Not allowing the shock to show on his face, Naruto spoke, "And why go through all the trouble? So you can find my weakness?"

Almost instantly Cinder's smirk fell, replaced by a decidedly much more serious look, "No. I admit I was highly intrigued by your attacks as well as the fact that you called out your attacks in what most would consider a dead language. However what I want most is for you to join me and to that end I wanted know as much as I could about you and your powers."

At hearing the possible villainess' want for him to help her, a single blond brow was raised, "You want me to help you? Regardless of your relationship with that creep Torchwick, I'm not so easily inclined to believe you're up to anything good."

That sultry smirk once more found its place on the raven haired woman's face, "That's not something we can exactly discuss here, but soon we will. Until then, just think about my offer."

Blue orbs watched as the petite woman calmly, and enticingly, strutted out of the shop.

_'Kurama?'_

_'Yeah, Kit?'_

_'What do you think?'_

The massive chakra construct offered a mental shrug, _'Well she doesn't have that red hair you like so much, but she seems like she'd offer a good romp in the-'_

_'NOT IN THAT WAY BAKA-KITSUNE!' _

Once again the sounds of laughter reverberated throughout the halls of Naruto's mind, _'Hahaha! Priceless.' _Once the Kitsune allowed his last vestiges of laughs to pass, he took on a much more serious demeanor, _'But in all honesty I'm not too sure. We still don't know enough about our own situation here to really be able to just jump into anything. The only things we can be for sure about now are; she's got some hidden agenda, but isn't necessarily evil, we're more than likely a few dozen millennia in the future - not a different dimension like we thought, and there's something going on here that only a select few are privy to.'_

Raking a hand through his blond locks, Naruto sighed, _'So pretty much the standard stuff, huh?'_

Seeing the worn out expression on his container's face, Kurama decided to offer some good news, _'At least this way we can find out what happened after that scarecrow sensei of yours pulled off that Kamui _(Authority of the Gods)_. If that woman could find old scrolls detailing the Shinobi, there's bound to be others laying around with more specific info on those events.'_

Looking many years older than anybody his age had a right to be, Naruto allowed his eyes to crinkle as he offered a small smile at his tenant's words, _'That's true. And at least we now know for sure that whatever Akatsuki _(Dawn/Daybreak) _had planned with the Bijū failed without us there.'_

The blond Uzumaki was torn from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he was a little surprised to see the concerned looks of his teammates.

"Are you ok Naruto?" Pyrrha asked, having been the one to put her hand on his shoulder.

Looking at the genuinely concerned looks of his team, his friends, Naruto shook his head and gave a off a bright smile, "Yeah I'm fine guys! So what'd you find?"

* * *

**AN: **And another chapter down and out. I realized that I hadn't spent much time developing Team NNPR and their friendships so this chapter and part of next chapter will be somewhat of a filler aimed at that purpose. As you can see there will still be moments that will progress the plot as well.

On that note! Whichever direction Roosterteeth decide to take Cinder, in this story she will be a misguided hero/disillusioned huntress. Why? Cuz I think it fits and fuck you that's why.

Will she be redeemed? What's her big secret? What happened to lead her to this life? Wait and find out!

Also in this chapter was finally the reveal of how Naruto got to Remnant and what Remnant is in regards to the Elemental Countries. If you didn't catch it: Kakashi used Kamui on him and somehow teleported them into the future. How? Why? What was happening? What was Naruto up to in Remnant before the start of the story? In time dear readers, in time.

For those wondering, yes having the shop named after the AH crew was an intentional little cameo. The whole crew will make appearances as workers at the shop, but nothing more than that. Just in case, no I am in no way affiliated with Achievement Hunters nor do I make any sort of revenue off of their name and likeness, nor is this meant as slander towards the people they are based off. This is something I do as a fan of theirs and nothing more.

Would also like to take the time to thank 0 Jordinio 0 for bringing the "I hate this story because I'm childish and will piss and moan about it" flame count up to a grand total of...2! Congrats.

In relation, I don't get why everyone is so intent on sucking Naruto's dick. I mean I know he get shit on by Kishimoto, but damn really? Naruto is not all powerful. He can and has gotten his ass kicked. And while we can pretty much scientifically and mathematically tear apart both the manga and anime to give a sort of power level for the Naruto-verse characters, it is still way too early to do that with RWBY and so for all we know Cinder or Ozpin could mop the floor with him.

We haven't seen how powerful the big guys are (Ozpin, Glynda, Raven, Qrow, etc) and if anything the Volume 2 season finale showed us how big of a gap there is between the students at Beacon. Team CFVY fucking DECIMATED dozens of Grimm with stupid ease, showing they could run circles around team RWBY and JNPR, and they're only a year or so apart. Imagine the gap between them and the Hunters/Huntresses who have had DECADES to hone their craft.

Yes Naruto-verse has jutsu and kekkai Genkai and shit but the RWBY verse have Semblances which some could easily even the playing field. Pyrrha could become the next fucking Magneto and for the Nin who always have at least 5 lbs of metal on them, she could be their worst nightmare and push them around like a Jedi using the force. Ruby's allows her to almost vanish with a trail of rose petals being the only thing left behind and Yang's lets her reach almost Tsunade level strength under the right conditions. I mean damn! She punched what amounts to a mini-Gundam and blew the thing to pieces!...with help, but hey teamwork yo.

Point is, don't downplay the RWBY characters cuz you're too hyped on riding Naruto's dick ya fucking fanboys. At the same time who fucking knows, I could be horribly wrong and you all right...as far as canon. And guess what, this ain't canon. It's FANFiction. I can do what I please. I can make Naruto a Gary Sue and so what. I won't but I don't understand how people on here seem to lose the concept of fanfiction.

I understand wanting to stick to canon or that universe's laws, but there is no golden rule that says "This is how you (do/don't) write fanfiction". It's all personal preference, as is the case with like 99% of life.

Before I really go on some rant/tirade I'll stop here. Just something that has been bugging me for some time.

In regards to the story, more editing, better writing, and such. I appreciate the people who offer legitimate critiques for me. You guys are great. I am also so happy that thanks to you all we smashed through that 400 review mark. I didn't think we'd make it with last chapter, but I was extremely overjoyed to see that we did.

I thank the people who come to read this story and enjoy it and even more so the people who feel compelled to leave a review, whether that review be a simple "Good job!" or a several paragraphs long critique. I appreciate that all. If there wasn't enough people who enjoyed this, I would feel no need to continue doing it.

In none related news I hope to start putting out covers and original music over on my YouTube account sometime soon. Already have two videos edited and ready to go, just want a few more so I have a backlog. My reason for saying this -other than for self promotion-? Well because the first cover I will be "debuting" will be for the Volume 2 song Sacrifice! I'll be sure to let you all know when that happens.

As usual, have a great day/night and I will see you with the next chapter!

Peace out


	9. Chapter 9

**AN**: Ah the Internet, such a lovely place haha. Honestly though I was reading through reviews and the only thing I could think is, "Huh, my reviews section has turned into the YouTube comments section on a popular YouTuber's channel...does this mean I've made it?"

That said I love how for every comment I got from the Naruto fandom concerning how I've "nerfed him", "Don't know Naruto", or what have you, there were like 2 or 3 genuine critiques of the chapter and people agreeing with me. I would also like to apologize to those readers who are here to just enjoy a good story and had to see that all.

Though I will say this. Mr. and/or Mrs. Fairy tale dragonslayer or whatever, when you intend to critique someone or "help them", it's generally not a good idea to start off with "You are horribly wrong". No one will take you seriously, just some friendly advice, take it or leave it.

That all said I will continue to write this story how it's going now until such point that 80% of the reviews consist of people telling me I suck.

Shout outs to Capri-Saaan, sagotomi, Caellah, The EternalSage18, Warmach1ne32, hollowichigo12, delphinous, Chast4, Ventusblade, and WildCardFool for their insights and critiques.

A separate shoutout to anyone who reviewed really. Sorry I can't list all of you as that would take some time to do, but know that I value your reviews just as much I do the others, so thank you for making this such a fun thing to do.

Questions/Comments/Concerns...yeah there weren't really any as most of the reviews were more concerned about my little rant. Good to see that everyone else is happy with how I want to focus on relationship building and the whole Cinder thing as well though.

Story time!

* * *

"So you're telling me that this little slip of paper is capable of holding all of this?" The bearded store owner known as Jack stared incredulously at the unfurled scroll that lay before him.

Team NNPR had purchased far more ammo and Dust than they had really planned for and they had no way to carry it all back with them to Beacon. Luckily for the teens, Naruto was well versed in the creation of storage seals and usually kept anywhere from five to twelve empty storage scrolls on him for just such an occasion. Of course the large man that was apparently one of the many co-owners of Achievement Hunters' Weapon Shop was skeptical of a simple scroll's ability to carry what amounted to about a hundred or so pounds of ammunition.

Really anyone would be highly skeptical if they were told a scroll could hold such a hefty load, more so if they were told that the unassuming piece of paper was capable of doing so thanks to the writing on it bending time and space to create a pocket dimension where the items in question would be kept.

_'Fūinjutsu is so cool, -ttebayo,'_ Naruto thought to himself with a grin as he finished placing each of his teammates respective rounds in their own pile on top of the scroll.

Placing his hands on the scroll, the Jinchūriki pumped a small amount of chakra into each of the sealing matrices inscribed into the paper and in a puff of white smoke the items were gone, leaving only the scroll laying on the floor and a flabbergasted Jack.

"Well...now I think I've seen it all. That's a pretty neat trick kid," the bearded man praised. "Those would be extremely useful to have around the shop."

Naruto began to roll up the scroll, "Actually I've been working on a version of these that others besides me would be capable of using. I have a prototype with me, but haven't had the chance to really try it out."

This seemed to make Jack extremely happy, "Well no time like the present right? Bust it out blondie!"

Naruto grimaced. In truth he really had been working on a version of the basic storage seals that could be activated by Aura users so that he could give a scroll or two to his teammates for them to use. The only problem was figuring out how to compensate for the difference between Chakra and Aura. The two energy sources were similar yet so different.

Chakra was comprised of both Yin and Yang, the physical aspect from the body and the spiritual aspect from the mind. It was literally someone's life force which is why chakra exhaustion left its victims in a bedridden state and why it was also possible for someone to die if they used up all their chakra. Aura on the other hand was...well Naruto really didn't know for sure. He and Kurama had theorized that the people of Remnant had somehow had their chakra separated, their spiritual aspect giving birth to Semblances and their physical half becoming what was known as Aura.

This meant that they could freely use up either of the two without worrying about little more than fatigue. Really the only way it would be possible for someone to die from overusing their energy would be if they used their Semblance and Aura simultaneously till there was nothing left.

Still the unique situation this presented for Naruto and his seals was trying to figure out how to get the matrix to respond to just the physical aspect of chakra which involved having to tear apart and scrutinize every single minute detail of the entire seal and, in an art where even the smallest mistake could be costly, this wasn't an easy task.

However the prototype he had on him had been tested quite a number of times and the success rate was pretty high...at least with Naruto doing it. He had yet to actually have an Aura user try it out.

Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto nodded as reached into his pouch, "Well alright, guess it's time to see if it works."

Tapping one of the many tiny storage seals that lay inside his weapon's pouch, the blond pulled out a plain looking scroll that seemed to have the same exact markings as the one it's creator had just used. Of course it looked that way to the untrained eye. A seals master would be able to easily see just how many alterations had been made to the core of the seals.

With the unassuming scroll laid flat on the counter, Jack grabbed what looked to be a standard sword. Then again this was Remnant so it was more than likely also a gun or something. Laying it on top of one of the marked areas, Naruto instructed the bearded man to place his hands on the scroll and pour a small amount of his Aura into the paper.

Everyone watched with baited breath as Jack followed the teen's instructions to the letter. The black ink that made up the actual seal glowed a faint blue for a second before there was a poof of smoke that obscured their vision. Waving their hands, they managed to clear away the small cloud and saw that where there was once a sword, there was only the scroll, now with some writing below the seal, no doubt indicating that there was something in it.

"Kid...if you supply me with these I'd be more than happy to keep you and your friends well stocked on any kind of ammo you may want," said a grinning Jack. You could almost see the gears in his mind turning as it went through the possibilities this presented for him and the business.

Normally this would be next to impossible as drawing even a single storage seal took an hour to do and a whole scroll of them took almost half a day to make. However Naruto was more than happy to abuse the Kage Bunshin jutsu for this as it was a rather lucrative deal. That and he had used the technique for a lot less before.

Seeing as how there was little to no chance he'd ever be able to return "home", what with it being a couple centuries in the past, Naruto decided that this would be a good way to start earning some much needed income. The warrior lifestyle, be it that of a Shinobi or Huntsman, was not as well paying as most would think so a lot of them would seek out other areas to supplement that income. Jiraiya had his books, his parents had invested in various businesses both in and out of Konoha, and the various Ninja Clans in Konoha used their Kekkai Genkai or expertise in an area to run their own businesses.

Being an accomplished Fūinjutsu practitioner and multi-tasker with no compare, Naruto saw the opportunity to start making his own business ventures here in his new home of Vale. With a wide grin, Naruto reached into his weapon's pouch, "You said you like anything that goes boom, right?" Jack's own grin was almost as mischievous as the blond's. Almost. "I think you're gonna like this. Got any place where I can show you without having to worry about collateral?"

The bearded man motioned for the four teens to follow him, leading them behind the counter and into the back room of the shop which was a huge departure from the tidy look of the actual store itself. Weapon's were strewn everywhere and team NNPR had the slightest inkling that touching anything could lead to half of Vale being wiped off the map.

"Hey guys! Get over here!"

Jack's call was answered by several more.

"The hell do you want Jack!?"

"Damnit Jack! You almost blew us all to hell!"

"Oh anus!"

The last shout was shortly followed by a minor explosion that caused several nearby weapons to fall off their shelves.

Coming out of the cloud of smoke was possibly one of the motliest looking groups of guys that the teens had ever seen. With so many varying looks, the group looked like they shouldn't be friends let alone have met with each other in any point of time.

Jack turned to team NNPR and began introductions, "Kiddies, meet the rest of the Achievement Hunters."

"Geoff," a man with tattoos covering both his arms and hands with what looked to be a frazzled version of a handlebar mustache waved and nodded at them.

"How's it going?"

"Michael," one of the shorter members of the group stood with a beanie on his head and nodded at them.

"Sup bitches."

"Ryan," a tall and rather intimidating looking man looked down at them and extended a hand for a handshake, which Naruto took.

"Hey guys."

For a moment team NNPR did a double take, astounded at how eerily similar the man sounded to Jack which had most of the group laughing.

"Ray," a darker skinned male with a curly mop of hair and glasses waved at the teens.

"Yo."

"And I'm Gavin!" Came the foreign accent of the last male who looked rather lanky.

Jack didn't seem to be too happy about the interruption though and yelled, "Damnit Gavin! We had a thing going and you messed it up!"

"Son of a bitch Gavin! Can't you be professional for like two seconds!?" Michael snarked.

As the group of grown men descended into mindless cursing and name calling, the four teens of team NNPR could only look on in awkwardness. The insults being hurled around would have caused most people to burst into tears or actually end the friendship, yet from the little smiles and smirks on their faces it looked like this was normal for the store owners. It almost seemed like this was how they bonded, through scathing insults and harsh language.

Coughing into his fist, Naruto managed to regain the attention of the men, none of whom seemed at all embarrassed by their previous actions.

"So why'd you bring the kiddies back here for?" Michael asked as he eyed the four teens.

With a grin hidden behind all of his facial hair, Jack just motioned for Naruto to show them. With a shrug the blond nin grabbed a nearby spear and performed one of the most basic of the Shinobi arts, shocking those who hadn't seen it before.

The first to respond was the heavily tattooed Geoff, "Holy shit kid! Can you recall it as well?"

Without even a word, Naruto pumped a minuscule amount of chakra into the seal and after the ensuing puff of smoke was gone, revealed the formerly sealed spear to be in his hands.

Still widely grinning Jack continued, "Blondie agreed that as long as we keep him and the rest of his team here well stocked on ammo, he'd be willing to supply us with some of these nifty scrolls for our own use."

"Huh, so we can finally clean up this place then?" the dark skinned Ray noted as he caught on to Jack's idea.

"I wouldn't mind. It's a bloody mess back here," Gavin chuckled.

Ryan interjected, "Gavin, most of this mess is your fault so you shouldn't be talking."

"Yeah Gavin, you're the one always blowing shit up," Michael joined in with a smirk.

Knowing that with another word, the grown men could descend back into yet another squabble, Naruto chose to interrupt them yet again, "There's also something else I think you guys would be interested in. I just need some place that where you don't care about collateral."

Hearing his last sentence, Gavin turned to Ray and grinned, "Bunker?"

Chuckling Ray nodded, "Bunker."

"X-Ray and Vav away!" The two shouted as they hurried behind one of the massive piles of weaponry.

Following at a much slower pace, the rest of the AH crew took the time to explain to the no doubt highly confused teens, Geoff showing himself to be somewhat more of a leader than the others, "Gavin and Ray like to test out a lot of the more dangerous stuff as a team so they made themselves what they call the 'Bunker'. It's their personal little testing area and if it can handle all of their fuck ups, it should have no problem handling what you have to show us."

"What about the whole 'X-Ray and Vav' thing?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

_'I don't care what you say, the minute they try and pull something like that horrendous 'Sunset of Youth' I will erase them from existence,'_ Kurama growled out.

Memories of a certain pair of "Green Beasts" resurfacing, the fox's Jinchūriki was hard pressed to argue. No one should ever have to endure the horrifyingly scarring experience that was the feared by even the most hardened of criminals.

The mustached somewhat leader shrugged, "I dunno. You'd have to ask them about that one."

Turning around the same corner the two eager co-owners had, team NNPR could only stare in appreciation at the veritable armory before them. Sure the store itself and the back room could more than easily supply a whole militia, but somehow Gavin and Ray had managed to construct their own workshop within the already existing one that held almost as much weaponry. How the two had managed to fit so much in what looked to be a simple fallout bunker was mind boggling.

The two then lead the group to a much smaller room that would only fit no more than five people at a time, a thick steel door with a glass viewing window cutting it off from the rest of the Bunker.

Figuring that this was the "blast room" where the more explosive items were tested, Naruto walked in and pulled out a small slip of paper from his weapon's pouch. Laying it in the middle of the floor, the blond rejoined the others as Gavin and Ray sealed the door.

"The fuck is that little slip of paper gonna do?" Michael asked as he stared into the room incredulously.

Of course while no else had said it, it was quite clear from the looks on their faces that everyone, even Naruto's own teammates, agreed with the vulgar statement and were skeptical of how much damage a simple piece of paper could do. Of course they didn't know that Fūinjutsu was an art limited only by one's own imagination. Masters of the art could do anything from sealing the soul and power of the strongest portion of a primordial god into a baby or even bend the very fabric of space and time to their will. Using a slip of paper to do something as simple as causing an explosion was child's play for even a novice.

Forming the necessary hand seal, Naruto smirked as he muttered, "Baku _(Explode)_."

The ensuing explosion rocked the entire store and engulfed the blast room in a storm of flames and concussive air as it pushed against its confinement seeking to escape and unleash further destruction. It seemed that Gavin and Ray had really built the place as a bunker though and so the walls and doors stood strong, keeping the conflagration within its four walls.

With a massive grin stretching across his face, Geoff turned to look at a mischievously smirking Naruto, "Blondie...this is gonna be the start of a beautiful partnership."

* * *

Following team NNPR's run into the group known as the Achievement Hunters and Naruto's subsequent business dealings with them that would ensure he and his teammates would never have to worry about ammunition or weapon repairs while also leaving the blond Uzumaki with a small stake in the store, the four teens had decided to do something that didn't have something to do with their profession.

Nora had spotted a warehouse that hosted games of Laser Tag as well as various other activities and enthusiastically voted that that be their next stop...which meant she ran into the building before anyone could stop her. What began as a casual game between friends quickly escalated into a heated free for all with the teens eventually using their Semblances and battle prowess in an attempt to claim victory.

Needless to say, the children who had reserved the room after the four were awed as they saw Ren performing acrobatic feats to reach the higher floor where Nora was camping, aiming several decisive hits with his "gun" that left a pouting hammer wielder out of the game. Their jaws lowered even further as Naruto dropped from the ceiling behind Ren and fired off several shots his teammate's exposed back, disqualifying the reserved male.

The duel between Pyrrha and Naruto went even further, the redhead using her control over polarity in an attempt to move her friend into the line of fire while the blond in turn used his own control over wind to do the same.

The adolescent onlookers cheered loudly as the two partners matched each other move for move, Naruto using his training as a Shinobi of Konoha to perform wild feats of stealth and acrobatics, bouncing from floor to floor and using guerrilla warfare tactics to score hits while Pyrrha used her superior skill as a marksman to keep pace and score her own hits.

Eventually it came down to both having only one "HP" left on their electronic vests, the blond captain hidden behind a wall on the highest floor while Pyrrha panted behind her own cover on the lowest floor. The normally hyperactive children watched with bated breath, waiting to see which of their newest idols would be crowned as champion of laser tag.

With an unseen and unheard signal, Naruto dashed from his cover, weaving between pillars, walls, and the other constructs that dotted the arena, Pyrrha's laser being only centimeters off their target as he did so. When the blond disappeared into the darkness that coated the arena in most areas, the Greek themed warrior hid herself in a small alcove, her weapon trained on the only entrance.

To her shock and awe, a swirl of leaves appeared right beside her, and out of the small flurry of greenery came her friend, plastic laser gun already firing off a shot that robbed her of her last glowing bar of health.

With a grin on his face, Naruto offered a hand to the crouched Pyrrha, who took it with a smile and laugh. The two shared a good natured congratulations before their attention was drawn to the loud cheers and hollers coming from the viewing area. So into their own world the partners had failed to realize that they had attracted themselves an audience. Still they took into stride and waved at the crowd of adolescents.

As the team or four walked out of the arena with waters in hand, Nora was the one to voice the question on the others' minds, "What was that cool swirly thingy you did Naruto!? It was like 'whoosh!' and you disappeared! Were you lying!? Are you really a magician!?"

Ok so not exactly the way most would have put it, but the point still stood.

The blond captain was growing even more accustomed to his quirky teammate and was unfazed by the phrasing, "It's actually a pretty standard teleportation jutsu that almost all of my village learned. I know other villages also had their own variations that used their namesakes instead of Konoha's leaves."

Ren seemed off put by the idea that such an impressive technique was regarded as simple, "How come such a technique did not become more well known and feared?"

It was a valid question for the most part. A teleportation skill that anyone could learn? The uses were endless and would no doubt give rise to a whole new style of battle. The blond instead shrugged, "It was used more often to just move around quicker within the village and because of all of the limitations, it just wasn't really a viable technique that could be used in battle."

_'Though I do remember hearing that one of Sasuke's family members had figured out how to do it. Stupid Uchihas and their Sharingan,'_ Naruto pouted to himself. Really the shinobi from the past had all reason to be jealous. There had only ever been two weaponized teleportation jutsu, that he knew of, and besides the Uchiha whose name he forgot, his father was the only user of one.

Deciding to leave his childish dissatisfaction concerning his former teammate's Kekkai Genkai, Naruto realized that he and his team had been in the laser tag arena for quite some time, the lamp posts now illuminating the streets of Vale.

The events of the day seemed to hit the four teens all at once, team NNPR all yawning in sync as their eyes drooped and their posture slackened. Nora was hunched over and Naruto was only somewhat worried that she would collapse and start snoozing right there on the sidewalk.

Another yawn hit the half blood Uzumaki, "Well time, guess we should call it a night."

"Bed, Nora is coming!" the eccentric young woman called out whilst pointing skyward...before she collapsed onto Ren's back and began snoring away. To his credit the reserved male seemed unfazed by this and merely tightened his hold on his friend before following Naruto and Pyrrha.

When Nora began to drool with said liquid coating his shoulder, he made no move to stop her, simply taking it in stride.

'_Guess I'm washing this sweater after all.'_

Just another day in the life of Lie Ren really.

* * *

As team NNPR sleepily made their way to their room, a voice from behind stopped them in their tracks, "Mr. Uzumaki, glad to see you and your team returning back safely."

Almost instantly the team, at least the three that were still awake, straightened up and stood at attention seeing as how it was their Headmaster who was addressing them.

"Yes sir, we were just heading to bed now," Naruto spoke, trying his hardest to not let a yawn escape.

Nora, even asleep, had perfect timing and decided to let out an especially loud snore, unknowingly driving her captain's point home. While her teammates sweatdropped at this, Ozpin let a small smile slip across his face. It made him genuinely happy to see his students act their age. There had always been a push from some council members to implement a much harsher regiment to "better prepare the kids for their career" and he had always been heatedly against such a decision and seeing as how he had several decades as an experienced Hunstman under his belt as well as the political backing to go with his position as Headmaster of Beacon, those voicing such an opinion often found themselves on the losing side of the debate.

And it was scenes like this that made it all worth it to the silver haired Headmaster. He would gladly put up with the obnoxiousness that most of the other councilmen boasted if it meant he could let his student's have moments like this. Still there was a time and place for it, and right now he had more pressing matters to deal with.

"While I'm glad to see you all had fun while out in Vale, I must ask that your captain follow me to my office. There are some things I wish to discuss with him." Seeing the longing look said team leader cast towards the door that stood between him and sleep, Ozpin smirked, "Fret not Mr. Uzumaki, our chat will not take long. You will have more than enough time to get a good night's sleep."

With a resigned sigh, Naruto waved to his team and began to follow the Headmaster's sedate pace. Normally he would be going over everything he had done in the past few days trying to figure out just why he was being asked to talk to Ozpin personally, but his sleep addled mind was far from being capable of that kind of work. Just cause he had an inhuman amount of stamina didn't mean he couldn't feel sleepy, especially after a long day.

His spar/training session with Pyrrha had gotten him going and then his run in with Cinder left him with so many questions and then there were the dealings he had to hash out with the Achievement Hunters followed by that intense game of laser tag. Yeah, Naruto was ready for bed.

That in mind, the blond shinobi was relieved when the imposing structure of Ozpin's office came into view. Taking a seat opposite to the older male, Naruto waited to see just what this was all about.

"Seeing as how late it is and how long of a day you must have had, I'll get to the point. After reviewing both your own performance and the performance of your teammates, as both individuals and as a cohesive unit, myself and several other professors have seen fit to do something we normally don't do. As of this moment, Team NNPR is being pulled into the active duty roster."

Naruto sat and stared blanky at his technical commander, not saying a word. Any form of fatigue or sleepiness that had clouded his mind had been blown away by the brevity of the situation. He knew that as he had become more at ease with his situation he had been showing more and more of his true potential. Thanks to this his team had tried to keep stride and he knew that outside of their team training days, the others were working their respective asses off to not "drag him down" as it were and in doing so they had earned themselves the top spot in the first year class' ranking, team RWBY trailing behind them. But to hear that they had apparently been performing so well that they were being pulled into the active duty roster, something that didn't happen until a month or so into their second year, was mind boggling.

"Not that I'm not extremely happy to hear that my team has apparently done so well as to warrant your attention, but why? I find it hard to believe that a still freshly inducted team of first years is being pulled onto the field so soon," Naruto spoke in a no nonsense tone. As a Shinobi, he knew that information could mean life or death for people in their profession, despite the change in who or what they were battling. He was not about to put his team, his friends', lives on the line without knowing the whys and hows.

"You are right to be wary of this. Unfortunately I must admit that the call was not one made solely by myself or my colleagues here at Beacon. The...order came from even above me," Ozpin grudgingly admitted. He seemed especially displeased to have to do this.

Of course Naruto had dealt with his own council and was used to getting screwed over by them so he knew that it was Vale's council who had called for this move without the silver haired Huntsman having to even say anything. The only question was why they were pushing for this.

"Why us specifically?"

Taking a sip from his mug to calm his mind, Ozpin replied, "Vale is in a precarious position right now. Despite how well we seem to be doing, there is always the worry of the things that wish to see us buried and gone, both non-human and human. The human aspect has become especially worrisome with the White Fang's recent actions and that problem is only being compounded by Roman Torchwick's rash of thefts. Add to that the fact that the man has evaded all our attempts at apprehending him, well most of our council is more than worried."

Seeing where this was going already, Naruto picked up from where the Headmaster left off, "And because of what happened on the docks a few nights ago, the council is having us, more specifically me, put on the spot because we were the only ones to get anywhere close to catching him."

Ozpin only nodded, happy to see that the blond was not just going to leap into the unknown without having some knowledge beforehand. Seeing the calculative look on whiskered cheeks, the elder male had to pat himself on the back for making the young Uzumaki leader of team NNPR. He was clearly weighing all the pro's and con's, not willing to lead his team on what could very well be a suicide mission.

_'First mission actual mission as a Genin and it ends up being an A-rank and I end up almost dying and manage to somehow liberate a small nation from the death grip of a grubby little tyrant. First month of being at Beacon and I somehow manage to get the attention of some crazy chick who wants to recruit me to her cause and now Vale's council wants me and my team to perform a mission even veteran Hunstman have failed at...Kurama?'_

_'What?'_

_'Do you know if Kami is a guy or girl?'_

_'...I'm gonna regret asking, but, why do you want to know?'_

_'Cuz I'd like to know WHAT GENDER THE PERSON IS WHEN I'M GETTING FUCKED BY THEM SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY!'_

Barely restraining himself from just jumping out the nearest window in pure frustration, Naruto spoke, "I take it we don't really have a say in this?"

"Unfortunately no. I tried to dissuade them from this decision, but in the end I was out voted. However I did manage to stop from them from sending you out on higher ranked missions...for the next year. Instead you will be taking, at most, three missions a month. This first month will also have you paired with an older team as backup, just in case."

Despite the situation, the whiskered teen was happy to know that his headmaster genuinely cared for his students. It reminded him quite a bit of the elderly Sandaime who had been the one to look out for him in his younger years and the one who had given him his dream to become Hokage. Heaving a sigh of resignation, Naruto nodded, "I'll tell my team the news tomorrow. Any idea when our first mission is?"

"End of this week."

With a tired bow, Naruto left the office, even more eager to get into his bed now.

Once the teen was clear out the door, Glynda decided to enter from the side door where her own office was situated.

"This still doesn't sit right with me Ozpin. Regardless of how I may feel in regards to him, Uzumaki is still a child and he shouldn't be put on the spot like this."

The Headmaster spun his chair and stared out into the window that revealed the vacant campus of Beacon in all its night time glory, "I know. I don't like this either. However you know as well as I do that I was lucky enough to have gotten them the respite that I did."

The grim look on the blond Deputy Headmistress' face revealed that she knew what her longtime friend and colleague had said was true, "And what of team RWBY?"

"Thankfully I was able to inform both Qrow and Taiyang in time and they were quick to use their own connections to put a stop to having Ruby and Yang put on active duty so soon. Unfortunately the same can not be said for Weiss."

Glynda could only sneer, "It figures that man would push for his daughter to be in such a position, regardless of the dangers."

"Indeed. Luckily with myself as well as Qrow and Taiyang protesting it, there was not much he could do, even with his own political sway."

Crossing her arms under her bust, Glynda joined Ozpin in staring out at the night time view before them, "I am still worried about Team NNPR. Both Uzumaki and Nikos are exceptional fighters far above their age, and Lie Ren and Valkyrie seem intent on catching up, but the world is an unforgiving place."

"Yes the world is harsh, but I have faith. If worse comes to worse I have no doubt that Mr. Uzumaki will manage to pull something out of his sleeves. He seems to be quite the unpredictable element."

* * *

Instead of going to his room like he had planned, Naruto found himself perched atop a tree on the outskirts of Beacon's campus, staring blankly at the moon. So much had happened in one day that he found himself needing time to adjust and gain his bearings, a task that would be made harder if he were around others. But here in the forest, a place he felt the most at home in, alongside an equally quiet Kurama, the displaced Shinobi found a sense of peace.

_'I wonder how far into the future we are,' _Naruto mused to himself.

_'Very far, considering how much the land and world has changed. In my thousands of years of living before I was sealed into your ancestor, the continents and land masses had only moved by the smallest of margins. It must be centuries upon centuries for the continents to have shifted into their current position,' _Kurama replied.

His container hummed in thought, _'Or something happened to cause the shift to happen faster than they would normally.'_

_'That is also a possibility. Then there is the difference in the people. It seems we were right to assume that somehow the people have had their chakra split into two, giving birth to Aura and Semblances. Not to mention the birth of Faunus.'_

_'You think the Faunus are just the descendants of clans like the Inuzuka?' _Naruto questioned.

In turn, the Kyūbi shook his head, _'While it would seem so seeing as how it would be a natural progression for clans like the Inuzuka to become more animalistic, I don't think that is the case. There is just too large a variety from cats, dogs, deer, and other animals for it to be the evolution of those clans, though canine Faunus might have some link to the clans of old. The only plausible thing I can think of is that somehow the world of Summons and this world merged and the consequence of that was the birth of the Faunus.'_

_'That would explain why I can no longer summon the Toads!' _

_'Yes, it would seem that with the creators of the contract being technically dead or Mt. Myōboku no longer existing in that plane, the contract is unable to pull anyone or anything to this plane,' _Kurama mused.

Rubbing his head in frustration Naruto continued, _'What about the Grimm? And Dust? Where did they come from?'_

The Bijū sat on his haunches and used his tail to scratch underneath his jaw, _'We already know for a fact that the Grimm are much like we Bijū were, entirely made up of chakra, in this case Nature Chakra. However how they are...born is an entirely different matter. We were born when the Sage split the Jūbi. The Grimm may have been born in a similar manner.'_

While it was plausible, the thought astounded the blond, _'But you said the Jūbi was the origin of chakra! And it took the Sage AND his brother to split up that monster! Even then you and the others only had a fraction of its power.'_

_'Yes, so if the Grimm were indeed born like us then it raises the question, what were they born from and who was the one to do it?'_

Naruto nodded in agreement, _'But the nine of you were a one time thing. There are Grimm still being born...almost endlessly.'_

Coiling himself around his container's neck, Kurama sighed, _'Unfortunately we still can not answer all these questions. To get these answers the best thing to do would be to try and find anything leftover from our time. If that woman could find some then we should easily be able to find plenty more laying around, forgotten by others.'_

"You know, I never took you for the brooding type Foxy!" Came a call from below.

Dropping back down to terra firma, Naruto was met with the grinning face of team RWBY's busty brawler.

Crossing his arms with a huff, the male blond retorted, "I was not brooding...just thinking...intensely."

Mimicking his posture, though considering Yang's developed figure it had a whole different effect, she snarked, "Yeah, totally wasn't like you had this scowl on your face or anything. Not like you had us all worrying either."

"How-?"

"Your room is across the way from ours. We all heard when Ozpin called you. Ruby was worried and so we went your guys' room to wait for you. Nora was the one who spotted you...coming this way instead going back to the room."

"And you volunteered to come get me?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow.

In turn Yang wrapped an arm around her fellow blond's neck, "Figured that if you were gonna be difficult I could always just beat you up and drag your ass back!"

While the two blonds had their fair bit of rough housing, Naruto had to think to himself, _'Maybe finding out all the answers isn't the most important thing right now. If we do find anything, then great. If not, well I have new precious people to worry about.'_

While he didn't voice anything aloud, Kurama was glad to see his container gaining back his old resolve. As much as he seemingly cheered for the teen Uzumaki to become more like a real Shinobi, deep down he knew that if that were to happen, it would be betray every part of who Naruto Uzumaki was. He wasn't supposed to be a good Shinobi. What had made him such a force to be reckoned with was not superior tactics or anything like that. No it was his iron clad will to protect those he considered precious to him, consequences be damned.

It was this drive to do what was right that had endeared the Jinchūriki to him. It was this will to fight for peace that reminded the fox of his own "father", the only being whom he respected more than any other. For a time he had truly believed that Naruto would be the one to do what even the Sage had failed at doing: bring peace to the Shinobi era.

"Alright Foxy, now carry me back!"

"Wait, why the hell should I!?"

"Cuz you made me come out here in the middle of the night wearing only pajamas, so the least you could do is keep me warm and take me back to my bed!"

Realizing that Yang was just as stubborn as he was, Naruto decided that the only way he was going to get to bed tonight without a beating was if he listened to her. Lowering himself to his knees, he was only slightly surprised when the outspoken teen jumped onto his back. What really surprised him was when she almost literally began to snuggle into his back.

Nonetheless he began the trek back to their rooms at a moderate pace, enjoying the weight on his back and the warmth it brought to him. Growing up an orphan and the village pariah had left him starved for any kind of attention. It wasn't until recent years that he got the affection he had been denied as a child and even still what most would take as small things meant the world to him.

The late hour seemed to be taking its toll on his passenger as well as she was slowly becoming slightly heavier, allowing herself to come closer and closer to the realm of Morpheus. On the cusp of a deep sleep Yang snuggled further into his shoulders, "How come you're so warm Foxy?"

_"_Cuz I have a gigantic construct of living chakra in my gut that keeps my body temperature far above the normal human temperature,"Naruto quipped to himself.

Clearly even closer to that deep sleep, the busty teen only hummed in response, "Makes sense."

And like that Yang was fast asleep.

Shaking his head and thankful that she was far too deep into the realm of sleep to have really registered what he said, Naruto just smiled.

_'Well, no one can say I never told them the truth now.'_

* * *

"Did you find what I was looking for Roman?"

Said notorious criminal shrugged and carelessly tossed a scroll that looked like it would fade into dust on top of the table between them.

"Yeah. Don't know why you're so interested in these old things anyways. Not like they're of any real value," Torchwick snarked as he took out one of his cigars.

Only for said cigar to be burnt to a crisp. Turning to look at his technical boss, he felt a shiver of fear run down his spine as amber eyes glared heatedly at him, flames seemingly dancing around the luminescent orbs.

"They are far more valuable than any of the trinkets you normally steal and if all goes according to plan, they will yield me results that you never could. Do not overestimate your own worth Roman, or it may well be your last mistake. Understood?"

Roman Torchwick was a well traveled man. He had fought tooth and nail to get to where he was and had earned himself a feared name in both the criminal underworld and in the political world. As such he had been faced with death many times and yet had still triumphed over those situations, becoming more and more fearless as the years passed.

However sly or powerful he thought himself though, he knew that the woman before him, Cinder Fall, was leagues more powerful than him and could easily incinerate him if she so desired. It had been a long while since he had felt the cold rush of true fear course through his body.

"...understood. By your leave?"

Cinder casually waved a hand, already engrossed in the scroll he had brought her.

_'Tailed Beasts? Are they like Grimm? Hmm, this is interesting.'_

* * *

**AN: **Bum bum buuuum! Plot! Characters! Lore! THINGS!

Haha but no really this chapter was pretty jam packed with stuff. I know I've been shortening chapters instead of doing longer ones so I wanted to get back into writing the longer chapters and out of the little "filler".

My first AN addressed most of the stuff so there's really not much else for me to say...

Huh...so...how was your day? Umm...cool. Really? Wow so interesting.

All jokes aside hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took so long but I may have went out and bought Hyrule Warriors...and I may also have already sunk a couple dozen hours into it...or more...what's today?

Oh yeah seagate asked if other Naruto characters would be introduced...no. Nope. Not happening. Naruto is it. Sasuke won't somehow still be alive. Madara won't somehow revive himself and Kaguya isn't coming in either.

Thinking I may have to up the rating to M with all the foul language though.

Questions, comments, or concerns? You know the drill.

PEACE BIZZNICHES.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **IT FINALLY HAPPENED. THIS STORY HAS NOW OVERTAKEN MY DXD CROSS FIC FOR MY MOST REVIEWED STORY! WOOOOOO!1!1

I am seriously beyond happy about this. My DxD fic was unfortunately my crowning achievement thus far, but this fic has finally surpassed it in not only quality but in popularity. For that I thank all of you who have helped me reach this point. The critiques, the "good job!"s, and even the childish flames. Feels good!

As a treat for you guys being so awesome this chapter will be especially long and especially good. Another treat, sort of, is up on my YouTube channel (the link to which is on my profile). For those wondering, yes it is my cover of Sacrifice. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**C/C:** The Shunshin.

**A:** Ooo boy did I grilled for that. So I will readily admit that I wasn't aware of the techniques intricacies which I should have been. My bad. However in my defense, Naruto wouldn't be either. The fact is that despite him living in that time and having used the technique, he is NOT the walking authority on all things Naruto-verse. Shit he's probably the least knowledgeable and even if Kurama was around for several centuries and knew some stuff, why teach it to Naruto? The Shinobi era is gone, it would be useless information at this point. Just because he's smarter and more levelheaded doesn't mean this Naruto is any less of a dumbass than canon Naruto. As far as he's concerned, as long as he can use it properly, he doesn't need to know exactly how a Jutsu works. To him it would be just some teleportation jutsu.

**Q/C/C:** The AH crew.

**A:** The AH guys will only be appearing in small bursts and will have no large significance to the plot outside of keeping Team NNPR well stocked on all things that go boom. Also glad Roosterteeth fans were happy with my portrayal of them. As a separate thing, I will only be using the core members (Gavin, Ray, Ryan, Michael, Geoff, and Jack) so no Lindsay (some meta shit considering she's Ruby's voice), or Matt.

**Q:** What's going on with the council? How do they work? Will you be expanding on them?

**A:** The council won't be playing a huge part, but will be the cause of some interesting stuff happening. How they operate on a grand scale will be explained and like I've done with the Grimm and other things, I will be working my own version out. If that clashes with RT's canon...well fuck haha. However they won't be given individual names or things like that, they'll just remain as the shadowy puppet masters behind the scenes.

I'm surprised nobody said anything about my mentioning Ruby and Yang's dad, Taiyang...or did you guys not know that? Oh well. BUT GUYS RTX IS COMING SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS...RWBY ANNOUNCEMENT. Knowing RT they'll probably be doing a tribute to Monty and then unveil the new Volume or something. If not...well I'll take it to mean RWBY is done.

STORY TIME

* * *

"You guys are already getting pulled for activity duty!? Lucky!" A wide eyed Ruby Rose exclaimed.

Seeing as how both his team and team RWBY had been curious about why Ozpin had called for him so late, Naruto had explained to them that he and his team were being "promoted". While Ruby was jealous, he could see the apprehensive looks some of the others wore, no doubt understanding why he wasn't exactly happy about the decision either.

Originally he had pulled aside his team and explained it to them personally, even telling them that they had no way out of the call. Instead of being excited though, he was met with grim looks of realization from them. They had no illusions about how strong they were and also knew that the world they lived in wasn't all unicorns and rainbows, the night on the docks having shown them just that.

That night had actually been a pivotal point for both Ren and Nora who, while not overly cocky where their own strength was concerned, had been confident enough to think they were catching up to their captain and teammate who were both being touted as prodigies. However that mysterious woman had burned those thoughts right up, having fought them off with the ease one would have when swatting a fly.

Had Naruto not intervened they may well have suffered horrendous burns or even death.

Now they were being recruited to help in the case she and her lackeys appeared again? It was almost suicidal.

Both Blake and Yang were acquainted with the criminal underworld for their own reasons and had seen more than anyone their age had any right to, giving them firsthand knowledge of just how harsh the world could be. They had since distanced themselves from that life for obvious reasons. The Huntsman life expectancy was already short as it was, no need to shorten it any further.

Chuckling Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I guess, but for our first few missions we're gonna have an older team to mentor us or something. Not that we need it, -ttebayo!"

"Big talk from someone who hasn't even taken their first mission," came a familiar voice.

Walking up to the two first year teams was the older team of CFVY, Coco strutting up to "her favorite blond" with a smirk.

Not being one to so easily back down, Naruto stared straight into the tinted sunglasses of the elder teen and smirked, "Who said it was my first mission?"

Coco just copied the gesture and crossed her arms, leaning on one leg to accentuate her hips, "Oh really? Far as I know they didn't give out missions to the kiddies at Sanctum or Signal."

The whiskered shinobi shrugged, "Maybe not at Sanctum or Signal, but as soon as you graduated our academy in Konoha, you were put on a four man cell with an elder...Huntsman and if you pass their test you were put on active duty and could start taking missions."

Eyebrows rose in surprise at hearing that not only had Naruto been on a previous team of four, but that a village would allow its warriors to start taking missions straight out of the academy.

Though Blake also had a stray thought cross her mind, _'He did it again. Why does he say certain words like that?'  
_  
As the raven haired Faunus pondered her friend's odd speech patterns, Ruby raised a different question, "Wait, if that's the case then how old were you when you started your academy?"

"I was entered in two years earlier due to certain circumstances, but the starting age for Konoha's academy was five."

"FIVE!?" Was the resounding shout from the others, most shocked and outraged that a village would start training children at such a young age to be trained killers. Sure most Huntsman families started training their kids pretty early, but not till much later, around the age of nine or ten considering that schools like Sanctum and Signal accepted students age twelve.

On one hand Naruto understood why they were shocked. From an outside looking in perspective, training kids at such a young age to do the things that were expected of a ninja could be borderline child abuse. Konoha wasn't so harsh in its curriculum, compared to villages like Kumo and Kiri, but it was still unbelievable. On the other hand, that was the shinobi era. In all honesty it had been a lot safer and a lot less mentally scarring during his generation when you looked at how things operated during the First or Second Great Shinobi War, even more so when one looked at the time before the birth of the Hidden Villages.

"Wh-when did you graduate?" A shocked Velvet asked.

Again, Naruto casually answered, "Twelve, at least."

"AT LEAST!?"

"Some people graduated earlier. My sensei graduated when he was five and my teammates brother graduated when he was seven," the blond waved off. While the feat may seem amazing, having known Kakashi on a personal level had kind of ruined the image that most people made up based on his career. Sure he was a very skilled ninja and had been hailed as a prodigy, but Naruto knew him as the lazy pervert who had mentored him and the others of team seven.

Shaking her head Coco threw her hands up in a "what can you do?" gesture, "Well, your crazy village aside, thought I'd let you know that we're gonna be the team who keeps an eye on you guys so you don't screw anything up."

As Naruto and his fellow team captain discussed the mission specifics, his own team as well as team RWBY began to look at their blond friend in a different light. They had all seen the goofy side of the teen who was always grinning or trying to make some joke and they had even seen him angry, but never before had they thought that he was really a no doubt highly trained warrior...at age twelve.

For team NNPR, it answered a lot of their questions. Key among them being how and why he was so far above their own level. Simply put, he had had near a decade more training under his belt and five years of actual combat experience to go with it. It also explained why he seemed so at ease when working with them. He already had practice working with a four man cell.

Blake, knowing about the harshness of his childhood, grew even more respect for her fellow "Faunus". Not only had he survived the years of bigotry thrown at him from his own people, but he had also experienced the life of a warrior and managed to hold strong to his beliefs. It said a lot about his mental fortitude to be able to to survive under all that pressure.

"See you in a few days then Whiskers," Coco patted Naruto's cheek and sauntered off, Velvet smiling demurely as she and the rest of team CVFY followed after their captain.

Yang glared at the retreating forms of the elder teens and huffed, "I still can't stand her."

Already knowing that the two outgoing teens clashed too much to really get along, the others only sighed and nodded their heads, Ruby patting her sister on her shoulder, "We know Yang, we know."

"Anyways, you got a sec Princess?" Naruto asked, surprising almost everyone. At this point they all knew that it had been the leader of team NNPR who had stepped in and given the Schnee heiress a talking to that had put her on the path to mending her relationship with her younger captain. What had been said though had been kept between the two, Weiss feeling that what she had been told was rather personal and didn't need repeating to others while Naruto simply didn't feel like taking the time to actually explain the long and emotional talk that would no doubt come up as a result of his talking about his former teammate.

Still no one ever expected the odd sort of friendship the two shared due to that talk to really turn into anything, seeing as how Naruto seemed to take pleasure in bothering the girl and doing anything he could to make her annoyed with him.

Raising a snow white eyebrow, Weiss replied, "Why? You better not be trying to prank me again or I swear I'll-!"

Naruto chuckled nervously as he frantically waved his hands, "No, no! No pranks, just want to ask you a couple things is all."

As the two ventured off, Weiss warily keeping an eye on Naruto, they didn't see the shocked and confused looks of their respective teammates and friends.

"Guys...did Naruto and Weiss just have a decent conversation without trying to murder each other?" Yang asked aloud.

No one said anything, still staring at the backs of their retreating friends, but they all nodded in unison, too shocked to do so.

"Well...damn."

* * *

"So what in the world did you need to talk to me about?" Weiss huffed.

Naruto took a seat on the stone bench that was located near the entrance to Beacon's library, "Seeing as how you're family is one of the largest producers of Dust, I figured you'd know a lot about the stuff."

Weiss mirrored the blond's actions and seated herself, raising an eyebrow as she did so, "Wait, so all you want is to know about Dust? You could just look that up in a book or something."

The Jinchūriki waved his hands, "I know and I did that, but all the book told me was how it's used and how to combine them to make other elements and stuff. What I want to know is what Dust is, like where it comes from and all that."

For her part, Weiss was rather surprised to hear that someone wanted to actually learn about Dust itself. Most were satisfied with knowing how to use it without blowing themselves up and even she would admit that if it wasn't for her family being known for the stuff, she probably wouldn't have invested too much thought into it.

"Well, we actually don't know all that much about it. I know my family pays a lot of researchers to look into all of that, but they haven't made much headway." Seeing the crestfallen look that made Naruto look like a kicked puppy, Weiss continued, "but I do know that the only places it can be found are in caves hidden in the most far removed places. It's also near impossible to manufacture any kind of Dust. I've heard that some of the researchers think it comes from energy stored deep in the caves, leftover from something."

_'Kurama, you don't think-?'_

_'It's a strong possibility. The only way we would be able to confirm it though is if we ventured into one of these caves.'_

Not letting the shock of his revelation show on his face, Naruto grinned, "Thanks Princess! There is one other thing I was wondering about though; how does your Semblance work?"

Needless to say the royally dressed heiress was caught a little off guard hearing that someone was interested in her Semblance. Again it was one of those things that very few people put more stock into outside of knowing how to use it properly.

"Well, it depends on what I want it to do. The main part of it is the actual making of the Glyphs. From there I can use them for a lot of different things - speed increase, as an adhesive, or even like an adrenaline boost-"

"But can you say, affect time within the area of the Glyphs? And does each type of Glyph have its own unique design that creates that effect? And if so do you consciously know how to create those individual segments or is it kind of just a-"

"Hey, hey hold on. Why do you want to know so much about my Semblance?" Weiss asked, seeing the frantic look in Naruto's eyes as he pestered her was unusual. It was clear that he was passionate and all, but it was also somewhat off putting to see the goofy blond act like some scientist who was talking to someone who could them all the answers they needed.

Realizing that he had more than likely made the RWBY team member uncomfortable with his barrage of questions, Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "Well when I first saw your Glyphs during the initiation it looked similar to something my family was known for."

Now that piqued Weiss' interest. As far as she knew her Semblance was among the more unique ones, not really having found anything similar to her powers even in her own family. Apparently Naruto's family said otherwise though.

Taking note of the apprehension in the Schnee heiress' eyes, Naruto grinned as he pulled out a higher grade seal than just your standard storage seal. Weiss looked at the unassuming piece of paper, but what caught her eyes was what was on the paper and its overall motif. While there were obvious differences in the style and makeup, the entire design as a whole was eerily similar to that of her own Glyphs.

"What is that?"

"Back home it was just one of the many basic arts that existed and was used pretty frequently. My family though was known for our unparalleled mastery of the art. It's called Fūinjutsu or Sealing Techniques," Naruto stated proudly.

Weiss looked at the seal with a critical eye, "And what does this one do?"

"It's called a Gravity Seal. The name pretty much gives it away," Naruto smiled cheekily.

"While it's interesting to see something similar to my Glyphs, what's the point?" Weiss asked impatiently. She really had no issues with the blond, especially now that he was being somewhat serious and not trying to prank her, but she still had other things to do.

"The one flaw with Fūinjutsu is that it takes almost perfect and precise penmanship, something I can't really do in the middle of battle. I have to already have the seals ready beforehand if I want to use 'em in battle. Your Semblance though-"

"Allows me to do just that," the Schnee heiress said, catching on to where the blond teen was getting at. However there was just one problem, "You do know Semblances are unique right? I mean I could probably create your seals and use them, but you wouldn't be able to," Weiss interrupted, stating what she thought was rather obvious. No matter how hard someone tried, it was just impossible to imitate another's Semblance.

Even still the young misplaced ninja seemed up returned by this, like it wasn't even a problem for him, "Just leave that part to me. What I want to know is how you create your Glyphs. Do you just visualize it and it happens or do you mentally construct it from the ground up?"

Seeing no harm in explaining the intricacies of her power, Weiss shrugged, "It depends. If it's a Glyph I've used before I can usually just visualize what I want to happen and it's made, but if I want it to do something I've never done before I'd have to almost make it from scratch. Using Myrtenaster as a sort of focus helps with those and even speeds up the overall process."

"Umm...Myrten what now?"

Weiss sighed in frustration, "Myrtenaster, my rapier."

The proverbial light bulb went off in Naruto's head, "You use the Dust in your sword to amplify the effects of your Glyphs! You've been a great help Weiss!"

If the Schnee heiress was surprised at the captain of team NNPR using her actual name, it was overshadowed by the warm and tight hug said teen gave her before running off to do whatever it was he suddenly found so urgent.

It was this somewhat shell shocked Weiss that the other members of RWBY and Naruto's team found, curious to know what caused the normally cold and haughty young women to look so out of character.

"Uh...Weiss? You in there?" Ruby asked as she waved her hands in front of the almost catatonic Weiss.

Yang, being the mischievous girl she was grinned and jumped on the opportunity presented to her, "Fox got your tongue Weiss? Maybe Naruto gave her a 'kiss to soon'! Eh? Eh? Cuz it sounds like Kitsune?" Seeing the blank stares aimed at her the busty teen huffed, "You guys wouldn't know comedy gold if it hit you in the face."

While the blonde was content to make jokes, or attempt to, two certain teens found the thought of Naruto actually kissing Weiss to be unsettling for reasons they could not discern.

_'Why does the thought of Naruto with Weiss make me feel so...uneasy? Shouldn't I be happy that he could have found someone to be happy with? What's wrong with me?' _A certain redhead pondered.

Similar thoughts were running through a certain young Faunus' mind, _'Why do I care if Naruto and Weiss end up together? It'd be odd with them being such polar opposites, but it's not just that. I...don't want him to be with her like that. Why?'_

* * *

The next few days were a blur for team NNPR. They still attended their classes as per their usual, but Naruto had decided to intensify not only their joint training sessions, but their individual ones as well, taking the time to spar with each of his teammates one on one. While they were nowhere near the level of their captain or some more experienced Huntsmen, the improvements to their skill was still noticeable.

Ozpin was especially glad to see that the team would not crack under the new pressure put on them. There had been high expectations for them before for having Pyrrha and the surprise "prodigy" Naruto on the same team, but now they were put under even further scrutiny and being held to a higher standard for being the first freshman team to be pulled onto the active duty roster.

Not that that really meant anything to anyone on the team. Both Naruto and Pyrrha were already used to being in the public eye, for differing reasons, and so it was nothing new for them. Nora lived in her own little world and she seemed content to either be completely oblivious to or ignore the pressure. Ren was...well Ren.

Team CFVY was seen hanging out with the younger teens, even more so now, Coco stating that she wanted to see what all the hub bub was about. Sure she had seen Naruto humiliate Cardin, but the leader of team CRDL was nothing special and so the fight hadn't really given her an accurate picture of just how strong the blond of team NNPR was.

After seeing Naruto and NNPR's red haired second in command spar, the elder teen could definitely see why the spotlight was being aimed at the four younger teens.

Knowing that, Coco grinned as she and the rest of her team watched as a battle ready team NNPR marched towards them and the cargo plane that would take them to the location of their mission.

"Looks like the newbies are ready for action," the mocha haired teen taunted.

Naruto rose to the challenge, "Ready to show you guys up is more like it!"

Velvet tried to diffuse the situation, "C'mon you two, we have a mission to take care of."

The two captains grinned at each other before nodding, making their way into the large aerial machine with their respective teammates following behind them. Taking a seat they gave a thumbs up to the pilot who silently nodded back to them before firing up the aircraft, quickly bringing them into the clouds.

With the side doors opened, the freezing winds of the higher altitude rushed in, blowing everyone's hair around and bringing with it a frigid chill and yet no one seemed bothered by this. Naruto's cerulean orbs were focused intensely on the outside view, watching as the buildings of Vale gave way to sprawling greenery, herds of Grimm moving about and tending to their own business. While he seemed to be simply sightseeing, he was mentally preparing himself for the mission ahead.

It was a simple one, a village that lay just beyond Vale's borders had been hit several times by a group of Grimm consisting of a few Beowulves. While normally the retired Huntsmen and even the three active Huntsmen that occupied the town could handle such a threat, they had been overtaken and injured by two much older Grimm who seemed to act as the pack leaders. The two leaders had shown skill and cunning borne from years of combat with Huntsmen and had critically wounded the village's protectors.

The only reason the village was still standing was thanks to the villagers having taken up arms and defending themselves as best they could, managing to force the pack to retreat. However it seemed that the village was on its last legs, fearing that one more attack could be the final crippling blow that would leave the villagers and the village itself decimated.

Something raised warning bells in Naruto's head though.

It was the simple nature of Grimm. It was true that, for all intents and purposes, the beasts despised humans and would gladly fill their belly with human flesh, but that didn't change the fact that they normally wouldn't outright target such a small settlement with such vehemence. The only plausible answer was what seemed to link the Grimm even further to the Bijū - the ability to sense concentrations of negative emotions.

As they grew closer to the village, Kurama narrowed his eyes and confirmed their suspicions, _'Kit, I'm sensing a lot more negativity than should be in such a small area. These Grimm are definitely here for a reason.'_

In turn, Naruto sighed and shook his head, _'And my luck with missions continues!' _

Rousing himself from his mental reverie, the blond shinobi mentally went over the weapons and scrolls he had on him as he reached for the scroll that contained Hi no Ishi.

Seeing their captain pull out his staff, the rest of team NNPR followed suit and got their weapons ready, already knowing to trust their captain's instincts. Coco raised an eyebrow taking their uneasiness as a sign of the jitters that came with going on their first mission.

Even still she gave the rest of her team a look, letting them know to be on their feet and ready for anything.

The pilot turned and gave the two teams the signal that they were at the drop point. Unfortunately he wouldn't be able to take them down with all the forestry in the way and, being so far from the city walls, it was highly likely that the Grimm would take the opportunity to attack anything that got close to the ground.

Naruto and Coco nodded to each other before leaping out to either side, their teams following them seconds after.

Releasing a breath, Naruto began pushing chakra into the air around him, pulling it in and forming a bubble around him that slowed his fall. Thanks to his slowed descent and the bubble of chakra around him, the blond landed with only a slight thud.

Pyrrha took a similar approach, however she used her control over polarity to push herself upwards, fighting against gravity with only enough force to stop her from crashing into the ground and possibly breaking her legs. She did funnel a bit of her Aura into her lower half as she landed though, just in case.

Nora...well no one was really sure how she managed to land without injuring herself. She just...did.

Ren took a bit more of a dangerous approach, swinging on the branches of the trees to subtract from his speed. However thanks to his more lithe and agile form as well as his skill in acrobatics, the raven haired teen managed to land without any serious injuries outside of a few scrapes and scratches on his hands.

How team CFVY managed to land without making a single sound or suffering an injury was a mystery, especially seeing as how both of its female members were wearing heels.

Personally, Naruto was happy to just chalk it up as one of the many mysteries that surrounded the alien species known as the human female.

"Well, we're here as backup so go ahead and take the lead and we'll follow," Coco stated matter of factly.

Shrugging, Naruto went into mission mode, "The village is a little less than a mile from here so we should be able to get there pretty quick, but be alert. We don't know where that Beowulf pack is and there are bound to be plenty of other Grimm out there. Pyrrha, your turn."

Naruto knew he wasn't the best tactician outside of battle. Sure he could come up with some pretty wild and ingenious plans in the heat of the moment, but outside of that? Planning wasn't really his forte. However he made up for that by being more than ready to admit his weaknesses and with teammates who could help him cover them, he was more than happy to hand over the reigns.

Pyrrha was no Shikamaru, lazy bum that he was, but she was still a whole lot better of a planner than he was.

"Naruto take point. If we get into any trouble you can weaken them up for the rest of us if need be. I'll go after him in case he needs cover." Turning to analyze their seniors, the red head took what she knew of them before coming up with a plan, "you four can be in the middle, formation doesn't matter, just be ready to respond. Nora you cover our back and Ren you cover her. We run into any strong opposition, be ready to form teams Disaster and Rose. Otherwise stick to formation."

Her teammates nodded at her, showing their complete faith in her planning while team CFVY was surprised at how efficient the Invincible Girl was in coming up with a game plan not only for her team, but for them as well. While it wasn't the best formation, having them in the middle, she didn't know their strengths or weakness, just that they were more experienced than her and her team and had put them in a position that, if worst came to worst, they would be able to help in whatever way they could.

Solid plan. Flawless? No, but still a damn good one that used what she had on hand.

_'Points to Nikos for being able to form a plan that fast, and a decent one at that. More points to Whiskers for being so ready to hand off control to someone who he knew was better suited to the situation. So far so good,' _Coco mentally checked off.

The two teams followed Pyrrha's orders and soon were making their way to their destination at a moderately quick pace, wanting to get there quickly, but still conserve energy just in case.

Minutes away from the village, Naruto put everyone into action mode when he swung his shakujo and unleashed a condensed ball of air into the distance. Not even seconds later a pained cry and a small explosion echoed throughout the trees.

Taking a detour, the others saw what remained of the quickly fading body of a Beowulf.

"It was scouting. Those two elder Grimm aren't just experienced, they're skilled. They know what they're doing," Naruto stated with a grim look settling on his whiskered cheeks.

Meanwhile the others took in this new information. It wasn't unheard of for Grimm to grow more intelligent as they aged and fought, but to be able to plan out with this much foresight was frightening. Only now was it becoming clear how a single pack with two leaders was able to critically injure the handful of retired Huntsmen and three active ones.

Once more Pyrrha took the reigns, "New plan, we're a few minutes from the village, let's get there as quickly as possible."

Nodding in agreement, the blond captain of NNPR was the first to act, leaping into the trees and traveling at breakneck speeds.

For a second the others stood shocked, never having seen someone able to so casually use the branches of trees to travel at such speeds. However the seriousness of the situation took precedence over any questions that could be answered later and soon the others sped off as well, attempting to catch up to the speedy blond.

* * *

Sitting atop the roof of a small hut, Naruto could not shake the feeling that something was horribly amiss. Their arrival and greeting from the village had gone as one would expect it to, the eight teens being met with cheers and eyes brimming with hope watching them near constantly.

After the minor celebration that took place upon their arrival, they had gone to see the eldest Huntsman who had been the one responsible for leading the small town thus far. The grey haired veteran was a kindly man who had explained to them the current situation in further detail and had even described his own bout with the two leaders of the Grimm pack.

Even still, as the injured and elderly man talked, Naruto just could not shake the feeling that something was not right. Kurama confirmed this, saying that the old Huntsman definitely harbored a surprising amount of negativity around him, far more than was "ok" to have.

"You realize that you have set the others on edge, correct?"

Naruto sighed and nodded, already having felt the approaching form of his only male teammate and friend.

"I know, but I just...something is terribly wrong here, but I don't know what and it's driving me insane!"

Ren seemed unperturbed by the outburst, "So you feel it too."

That surprised Naruto a little, "Wait, you feel it too?"

Ren nodded, still gazing out at the village, "My Semblance has gifted me with a sort of sixth sense. It's not the most accurate or detailed, but it warns me when something is off, especially with others."

The blond male frowned in thought, _'Sounds almost like your Negative Emotion Sensing.'_

_'Like hell it does! No pathetic ningen can compare to my powers!'_

Kurama was understandably upset over the comment.

Ignoring the grumblings of the prideful Bijū, Naruto asked the obvious, "How does it work?"

"Because of my control over my Aura, I can also get a feel for the Aura of those around me and how a person's Aura fluctuates says a lot about them. For example, yours is almost constantly moving and reacts according to your emotions with frightening accuracy. You also have a lot of it."

_'Ok so less like your power and more like a Sensor Nin's,' _the young Jinchūriki concluded.

Ren narrowed his eyes, "And while we were talking with that retired Huntsman...something about his Aura unsettled me. I've had this feeling ever since we've been here."

Naruto threw himself backwards and stared up at the night sky in frustration, "Argh! We're getting nowhere!"

Chuckling at his captain the long haired male nodded, "True, but all we can do is sit and wait for the truth to come to us."

The blond teen gave a bland look to his teammate, "Never been good at the whole 'sitting and waiting' thing. Too boring."

A vicious and hauntingly melodious howl rang throughout the the village and the surrounding area, both teens staring into the distance with weapons already in hand.

The rest of their team along with the members team CFVY came rushing out of the hut below them, looking just as ready for the inevitable battle.

"Team Pancake, take the civilians somewhere safe! Velvet and Fox with them! Coco, Yatsuhashi, Pyrrha, with me! We're going hunting! If anyone bumps into either of the two leaders, send up a shot, do NOT engage alone. Got it? Go!"

Naruto could already feel adrenaline and chakra rushing through his body in almost equal parts, his inner warrior and animal instincts demanding for battle and the rush that came with it.

Kurama was not helping the matter, _'Finally! Please tell me I can get in on this!'_

That gave the blond a pause. It had been awhile since his partner had actually done any fighting, the fight with Torchwick's bodyguard notwithstanding seeing as how he only unleashed a single small scale Bijūdama. A quick use of chakra told him that the pack of Grimm were well into the double digits, nearing the triple digits, meaning they would need all the help they could get.

"Pancake, I'm sending Kurama as back up!"

The call came as a surprise to everyone as they eyed the grinning fox kit that normally lazed about. Sure Naruto had made it clear that his partner could dish out some serious damage, but that still remained to be seen as no one had really seem the quadruped do much more than act as a fashionable scarf.

That surprise was soon doubled when, with a leap and a flurry of burning orange...energy, the tiny fox kit was replaced by a waist high nine tailed fox, a menacing grin stretched across its maw showing off the razor sharp fangs that filled said mouth. While many thought of the tiny fox as cute, despite its odd coloration and black markings, this form was truly terrifying, its crimson orbs now capable of striking the fear of death into any who gazed into them. Another noticeable change was the tail...now tails. Where once there had been a single tail was now nine long ones, swaying every which way in a mesmerizing dance of sorts.

The teens' fascination with the shape shifting fox was turned into morbid horror as a foolish Beowulf attempted to capitalize on their lack of awareness, claws ready to tear into a vulnerable Velvet. This was put to an abrupt halt as the now terrifying form of Kurama leapt onto the Grimm, landing with enough force as to crater the ground where they landed.

The two front paws of the Bijū, which they saw now seemed oddly human with the addition of opposable thumbs, pinned the limbs of the Creature of Grimm while Kurama put his teeth to work, viciously tearing into the jugular of the Beowulf with glee shining in his twin pools of bloody crimson.

With a victorious roar of his own the Kyūbi no Kitsune announced his presence on the battlefield.

_**'Oh how I've missed this! We have got to do this more often Kit!'**_

"I'll explain later! For now, we got a mission to do!"

Snapping back to reality, the others nodded, though they were not afraid to admit that the grinning visage of the once cute fox kit was more than likely going to appear in their nightmares for the next few nights.

* * *

Among the four of them it had been decided that Ren and Fox, being the more agile and quick footed ones, would be the ones to gather up the villagers while Nora, Velvet, and Kurama covered them. Of course the sight of the almost four foot tall fox caused many of the villagers more fright than the Grimm that were trying to have them for lunch, but with little choice and seeing said Kitsune tear into Grimm after Grimm with sadistic glee, the villagers took it in stride.

Using Stormflower to slice into the throat of yet another Grimm, Ren gave a quick check to see if there were anymore wounded or still living villagers. Feeling none, the raven haired teen nodded to accomplice, "That's all of them. All we can do now is fall back and help the others guard the villagers."

Being a man of few words himself, Fox nodded and followed after Ren.

The scene they arrived to was one the younger teen half expected to see.

Velvet was standing guard, her rabbit ears twitching ever now and again and looking like she hadn't done that much fighting. Seeing how Nora was swinging Magnahild around, each hit landing with enough force to dent metal, while she hummed what sounded eerily like Let The Bodies Hit the Floor showed why the young Faunus hadn't interfered yet.

Kurama was meanwhile a lot less...humane with his methods, yet still maintained that same enthusiasm which, while somewhat adorable on the hammer wielder, was downright nightmarish on him. Seeing the multi-tailed fox use one of said limbs to spear through the skull of a nearby Beowulf while he crushed another's chest with his paw, made both Fox and Ren all the more weary around the Bijū.

"Ren! You find anyone else?" Nora asked in her normally bubbly tone. This wouldn't be all that noteworthy if it wasn't for the fact that Magnahild was currently pinning down a currently struggling and whimpering Beowulf.

Ren sighed when his childhood friend pulled the trigger, sending her hammer plowing through the beast's chest cavity, looking unbothered by the slight crater she now stood in.

"No Nora, we didn't. For now we wait for Naruto or Pyrrha to-"

The howl of a Beowulf coming only yards away sent shivers down his spine, stopping Ren from continuing.

Emerging from the nearby street with a pack of salivating Grimm was the towering form of what could only be described as a demon born in the flames of Hell. Normal Beowulves stood at the five foot mark, but this monstrosity towered above even Yatsuhashi at a jaw dropping seven feet. The scarred and battle worn bone like armor that covered its body only served to further the creature's intimidation factor. This was only further compounded by the blood that dripped from its fang filled jaws and the blade like claws that carved into the ground with each step it took.

"It's one of the pack leaders! We have to fall back!" Ren shouted. While he had no idea how strong Fox or Velvet were, he could clearly tell they shared his apprehension over having to fight this dreadful creature without some serious backup.

Before they could begin their tactical retreat, Kurama stepped forward and stared down the pack leader with a hungry look in his own orbs. Fanning out his nine tails, the Bijū raised his head to the air and let loose a roar of frightening power, the sound waves hitting with enough force to break anything made of glass within the area.

Following that was the feeling of raw power covering them like a blanket, their instincts screaming at them to run, run as far away as was possible. Adding to that growing feeling of dread was what looked like flames coming to life and covering Kurama, making him look less like an actual fox and more like an entity made of fire and pure energy. The grin that was stretched across his face however made it clear he was not a benevolent spirit, no he was being of destruction of raw power.

_'The-there's no way that he is just a normal fox. No creature should be able to exude such a suffocating aura. This is...I can't even breath. I can't move. What is this!?' _A horrified Ren bought to himself.

Looking elsewhere he saw Nora on her hands and knees, staring blankly ahead, her body shaking uncontrollably. Velvet looked to be only seconds away from trying to assume the fetal position, her body trembling violently. Fox looked no better, shivering as he gripped at his chest, no doubt to make sure his heart was still beating.

The four young teens could only look on in horror as the two monsters began to move towards each other.

_**'I hope this pest at least puts up a decent fight!'**_

* * *

Naruto momentarily stared in the direction of where he knew Kurama and the others were as he felt a very familiar chakra skyrocket. Hearing his Bijū's last thought, he knew that one of the pack leaders had been found. Normally he'd try and dissuade Kurama from using such a noticeable amount of his chakra, knowing first hand how corrosive and terrifying it felt to be around, but taking in the circumstances he couldn't blame the fox.

It had been a long while since the strongest of the Tailed Beasts had really stretched and Naruto knew that Kurama enjoyed his freedom and despite his progress with "taming" the Kyūbi's hatred, it didn't change the fact that Kurama still very much so enjoyed fighting and the rush that came with it.

Something he and the chakra construct had in common, Naruto noted as he harshly slammed Hi no Ishi into the chest of another Grimm causing its rib cage to cave in.

A quick glance around him told him that both Pyrrha, Coco, and Yatsuhashi were holding up well. Though his partner and the towering teen of CFVY seemed to be a lot more serious about the situation when compared to the mocha haired teen who was going around using her heels as weapons with surprisingly deadly results.

Ducking under a swipe from a Grimm, Naruto formed a Rasengan and with a grin placed it on the Beowulf's snout. Letting his control over it go, the poor beast was sent spinning into several of its brethren before the heap of them were caught in the blast of the jutsu violently unraveling.

Without even blinking, Naruto quickly spun around, drawing out the blade of Hi no Ishi in one fluid movement and bringing it to stop the clawed hand that had attempted to shred him to bits.

Ocean blue orbs stared into angry red ones defiantly.

_'Well Kurama, looks like I found the other pack leader!'_

"Naruto!"

"It's fine! I got him! Just keep the small fry off me and I'll handle this one!"

"Whiskers I swear if this is some macho display so you can-"

Grinning Naruto decided to show the doubtful Coco why you didn't mess with an Uzumaki Jinchūriki.

A quick use of his signature jutsu, and the next thing the Grimm knew was that it had Naruto's boot being plowed into the side of its head. Consequently the Beowulf was sent hurtling into a nearby house. Naruto and his clone grinned at each other and fist bumped.

Their little celebration was cut short when the furious Grimm pried itself free from the rubble that had fallen on it. Grabbing a large fragment of the now destroyed building, the Beowulf threw the hefty piece of building material like a frisbee, aiming to take out the real blond.

A quick use of Kawirimi prevented that.

"Fūton: Renkūdan _(Drilling Air Bullet)_!"

Seeming to know that dodging was impossible, the Beowulf grabbed a larger piece of rubble and used it to absorb most of the jutsu. Using the dust thrown up by this tactic, the Grimm disappeared.

Naruto narrowed his eyes though when, instead of going for him or the others, the Grimm used the chance to go elsewhere, looking like it was on the hunt for something in particular.

_'They're definitely after something here...but what? Why go through all this trouble?'_

* * *

Dodging under a strike from the Beowulf, Kurama used one tail to trip up the beast the other eight being used to pin it down. Opening his maw, the Bijū grinned when it saw fear flicker in the Grimm's eyes when it saw the broiling flames that sat at the back of its opponents throat. A second later and the Kyūbi let loose, bathing the entire area around the two in a miniature fire storm.

As if the sight of the whirling flames wasn't enough to strike fear into the onlookers, somehow the grinning visage of Kurama began to take form in the flames, staring them down with that psychotic gleam in its eyes. The cackle that began to echo around the silent village sent chills down their spines, telling them they were in the presence of a true apex predator.

Thankfully the flames began to gradually die down, taking the nightmarish image of the grinning Kitsune with them. When the last embers finally flickered out, they revealed the now scorched and blackened earth. There was no trace of the Grimm or its corpse, any piece of it more than likely having been burned up in the blistering flames. What was left was the now shrunken form of Kurama, stretching casually as if it hadn't just unleashed a hellish conflagration and erased a no doubt decades old and powerful Grimm.

_'Just what in the world are you?' _Ren thought to himself, wearily keeping an eye on the fox. Chibified or not, it was not so easy to erase what had just happened from memory. In fact it would probably haunt his nightmares for the next few nights.

Meanwhile Kurama was left to his own thoughts, _'Tch, pathetic. I've had dinner that put up more of a fight.'_

* * *

Naruto was putting his almost unparalleled levels of stealth earned from outrunning ANBU and Jounin after a prank while tailing the now only pack leader and soon to be only Grimm left from the Beowulf group.

Seeing as how the villagers were safe with the others and with his own group having whittled the once large pack down to only a dozen or so, he was comfortable with leaving them to handle themselves while he figured out what was the cause of this whole thing. Sure it was normal for Grimm to target human settlements, but it was usually the younger ones who did so with such ferocity. Older and experienced Grimm like this Beowulf were more likely to just sit and wait, knowing better than to strike out at humans without some guarantee of victory or their own survival.

Yet as they made their way through the village, the Grimm was growing more and more frantic, seeming to lose the intelligence it had shown before. Knowing that the Grimm were made of Nature Chakra, Naruto knew of only a few things that could cause such a reaction and he was pretty sure that all of said items and abilities were long since buried and gone alongside the Shinobi Era.

Seeing the now almost erratically twitching Grimm arrive at what appeared to be some sort of small shrine, Naruto narrowed his eyes, _'What are you after?'_

Following the Beowulf into the dimly lit shrine, the blond shinobi could only stare in shock as a single phrase went through his mind, _'Oh fuck all kinds of duck.'_

There sitting on a padded pillow and surrounded by a few dozen candles was something that had once upon a time haunted his and his fellow Jinchūriki's nightmares. Some would see it as insignificant and there was a time that Naruto would have agreed, but knowing that this particular item had belonged to what had once been the singularly most feared group of rogue shinobi had changed that outlook.

Almost salivating, the Grimm stared at the simple ring made of silver. Imprinted onto the ring was a simple purple background atop which the kanji Gyoku _(Ball/Sphere)_ sat.

As clawed hands touched the cold band of silver, Naruto's eyes shot wide open, feeling the chakra that made up the Grimm beginning to violently fluctuate, growing so quickly that it began to become visible.

_'Kit! What the hell is happening over there!?'_

Not waiting to see the outcome of whatever was about to happen, Naruto formed a Rasengan and smashed it into the distracted Grimm's skull, the spiraling ball of condensed chakra grinding the beast into nothingness.

Tightening his jaw, Naruto stared at the seemingly innocuous ring, questions rampaging through his head in a whirlwind of emotions.

_'I have the worst luck with missions...'_

* * *

**AN: **BUM BUM BUUUUUUM!

So before the inevitable questions come about, no Madara/Tobi/Kaguya/Sasuke are not coming back. The Naruto Time is gone, it's now the RWBY time. Clearly though certain items have managed to survive the ravages of time and the events that followed after Naruto's disappearance from that time period.

Why do Grimm have such a powerful reaction and connection to the Akatsuki rings? Without revealing too much, I will say that I personally liked the idea of the rings playing a bigger part than they did in the show. Aside from that don't expect some huge like plot thing to come about due to the rings.

The Bijū are gone.

The Gedo Mazo is gone.

...or are they?

Haha I have plans is all I'll say. And I reiterate, none of those plans involve some BS plot hole to bring Madara or Kaguya into the picture as the main villain. I will not cheapen this story to do that. That also craps on RWBY in a way, kind of like saying its plot and story aren't good enough on their own.

I originally meant to put in a few more fight scenes, particularly a longer one with Naruto and the elder Beowulf, but I couldn't find a feasible way to make it plausible. Naruto at this point is now ok with using his jutsu and such without a care for who sees and so that puts him at a higher level than some Grimm, no matter how experienced or old. There will eventually be Grimm that come along that will cause even Naruto some hassle, but like I said, it seems that the older and more powerful of the Creatures of Grimm are content to stay away from Humanity unless provoked or disturbed.

This isn't a story where Naruto walks all over everyone and their mother and then bangs everything with a hole between its legs. Will Naruto be stronger than most? Yup. As stated in the above chapter, he has had decades of training (no matter how poor he did during the Academy days) and five years of combat experience as well. In that five years he's faced and been put into situations that only veterans like Kakashi or Jiraiya could compare.

But that also doesn't change the fact that for most of that he was a dunce with one good jutsu. Naruto won most of his victories because he was underestimated, far too damn stubborn to just keel over, or befriended the enemy, not cuz he was all powerful and I plan on sticking to that. But just buffing out his repertoire a bit.

Kurama also got the spotlight this chapter, which I mean while some say I've "nerfed" Naruto, I have not for Kurama. He is the strongest piece of the Jūbi, able to hold off five of his fellow tailed beasts without trouble and that's with only HALF of his chakra. At full strength, well I doubt there is any human or Grimm on Remnant that could stand up to the full might of the Kyūbi no Kitsune.

Also finally decided to really start forwarding the whole romance thing, as seen with Pyrrha and Blake's reaction to Yang's joking. Still not sure who I'll go with, but I'll figure it out within the next few chapters.

Speaking of, the next few chapters are all gonna be pretty lengthy and involve a lot of plot development and character progression. No more fillers for a few chapters. There will be small filler sections for comedy, but not entire chapters devoted to it.

And yes Ren and Naruto will be becoming better friends. It's cool to have a bunch girl friends, but dudes need that bro time yo.

OKAY! Enough blabber! Thank you all again for all the reviews and feedback. Makes this such a fun endeavor. I would like to also mention again that my cover/tribute of the RWBY Volume 2 song Sacrifice is live on on my YouTube (link on my profile). I'd be super appreciative of you checked it out and let me know what you all think. I've decided to really bunker down and start working on music, originals and covers and if I could have even a quarter of you as fans...well I'd be sitting pretty.

Hope you all have a good day/night!

Until next chapter!

Peace!


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** Yo! Hope you're all doing good and all that junk. I'd first like to thank all the people who went and watched my video over on YouTube and especially to those three who commented. Means a lot guys!

In regards to this, thank you all for continuing to make this fun! Without the feedback I'd have zero drive to do this, so keep being awesome.

That out of the way, time to answer some reviews!

Comments/Concerns/Questions

**C/Q:** Who's Akatsuki Ring was that? Why do Grimm react like that to it?

**A:** The ring originally belonged to Sasori but after he died Obito took it. Nothing really noteworthy there, just randomly chose that one as the the one Naruto found. As for why the Grimm react so strongly to the rings, read the chapter. I'll go into it A LITTLE.

**C:** Hope you don't have the girls trying to fight over Naruto.

**A: **Due to them being Huntresses, I feel like that'd be below them, however they are still teenage girls. So to answer that, no they're won't be like harsh name calling or anything, just some "Alls fair in love and war" kind of deal. Most of it will be for comedy's sake.

Kyuubi Hollow also raised a good point in that Ruby was getting shirked considering she was his first friend at Beacon. This is due mostly to the fact that since we know what RWBY is up to, I wanted to spend more time with NNPR and building them up. Still I admit the others of RWBY have gotten more screen time than Ruby herself, so that in mind I'll try and do my best to even out screen time for everybody.

To specifically answer Have A Little Faith, seeing as how their comment was rather lengthy and interesting, the idea of having some Naruto characters be "reincarnated" is interesting, I wouldn't want it to be a gimmick though. There have been hints that some Faunus are connected to the Inuzuka clan and such and even a certain doujutsu using clan being linked to the Schnee. Smaller bits like that will be hidden in the story, but I won't come out right and post a huge "LOOK AT THIS GUYS! THIS IS COOL RIGHT!? RIGHT?!".

There's a lot of stuff a lot of people, mostly flamers, seem to miss or ignore so I'd say keep an eye out. I'm not gonna hold your hand and drag you through the story pointing at shit, I like to be optimistic and believe that most of you are intelligent enough to connect some dots.

Thanks to both Toasty Kit and Jack Inqu for their lengthy reviews/criticisms. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I welcome critiques that actually offer advice on how to better improve the quality of my writing. To answer Jack Inqu's question, as far as I can remember Kurama can sense ALL negative emotions (anger, jealousy, hate, killing intent, etc.). Though what makes an emotion negative, I don't know, but that's a philosophical rant for another day.

In another bid for self promotion, I posted another cover over on YouTube. If you watched the Russell Brand movie, Get Him to the Greek, then the song will be pretty familiar to you. No it's not Furry Walls, it's The Clap. Go check it out if that's your thing. Link to my channel is over on my profile as usual.

Story time mother fuckers!

* * *

Heaving a sigh Naruto, ran a hand through his sun kissed blond locks as he stared intently at the seemingly innocent ring. However in his eyes, the superficially harmless piece of jewelry was mocking him, a reminder of his failure to not only save his fellow Jinchūriki, but his failure in following his nindo, his way of life. Having thought he was in a different dimension had eased his guilt, at least when he told himself that there was a chance he could still go back and fix all the wrongs, become the savior Jiraiya and so many others had thought him to be. Seeing the Akatsuki ring sat on the small pillow in front of him however drove the point home. There was no going back. He couldn't save his precious people, they were long dead and had been for what could only be centuries by now.

He had failed and there was nothing he could do.

_'You didn't fail,'_ rang the gruff voice of Kurama as he appeared at his Jinchūriki's side.

Having felt the massive influx of chakra from someone other than himself or his container was alarming, considering that, for all intents and purposes, he and the blond were the only people capable of using it anymore. When he didn't get a reply from his container followed by the massive amount of negativity that began to flow through their bond had caused the Bijū even more worry.

Seeing the cause of it all, brought up feelings of anger and disgust, though that would come later. He had a depressed Jinchūriki to deal with.

_'Of course I failed! They're all dead! And it's my fault! Sakura! Kakashi! Baa-chan, Iruka, Sasuke...they're all dead and it's all my fault. I let them all down.'  
_  
Kurama watched with a blank face as Naruto clenched his fists tight enough to draw blood, tears beginning to leak out from the corners of his eyes as he gazed at the reminder of a time now long gone, a time not even the annals of history seemed to recall. Fed up with the pity party, the Kitsune jumped up and smacked the blond on the back of the head.

_'Stop blubbering! You didn't fail! You are acting like you had a choice! That choice was taken from you when that one eyed sensei of yours decided to use his Sharingan on you. If any one is to blame for what happened its him. Besides that, would you rather the alternative have happened? If memory serves me correctly you were seconds away from being caught by that masked Uchiha. Had that scarecrow not used his Kamui, Akatsuki would have had all of us Bijū.' _Turning around and beginning to walk out of the shrine, Kurama huffed,_ 'now stop all your pissing and moaning and let's go. We still have to find out how that ring ended up in this village.'  
_  
As Kurama left through the entryway, a smile began to creep its way onto Naruto's face, his hands unclenching while his healing factor quickly kicked in, knitting the small wounds together in seconds. Using the back of his hand, the blond wiped away the tears, his blue orbs shining vividly once again.

_'Thanks buddy.'  
_  
With a firm nod to himself, Naruto narrowed his eyes before grabbing the ring and slipped it on his left thumb. To his surprise he felt an odd pulling sensation from the ring, the piece of jewelry drawing on his and his Bijū's chakra in equal amounts. Seeing as how both he and Kurama each had ocean sized reserves, it was hardly a cause for worry, but it was still odd. He had honestly thought that the rings were just some form of membership card for the Akatsuki, so either the rings reacted differently to Jinchūriki and their Bijū - which was highly likely seeing as how they were used to extract a Tailed Beast from its container - or the rings all reacted in the same way to chakra.

Seeing as how the thing had drawn only a small amount, to him, and was seemingly content with it, Naruto shrugged and resolved to figure it out later. Right now the more pressing matter was figuring out how the village had gotten a hold of the artifact and why they had built a shrine to it like it was some holy item.

* * *

While the issue of the ring was at the forefront of his mind, Naruto was happy to see both his teammates and team CFVY unharmed along with a huge portion of the villagers. There had been a few casualties and injuries due to the surprise attack, but no more than a handful or so.

The blond shinobi did take note of the wary glances Ren, Nora, Fox, and Velvet were sending towards Kurama who was currently wrapped around his neck as usual. They no doubt had questions, but seeing the grinning village elder took precedence.

Marching up to the kindly smiling man, Naruto narrowed his eyes and raised his hand, showing the ring that he now wore, "Where did you get this?"

The retired Huntsman along with most of the adult villagers gasped in horror, the man now angrily glaring at the blond captain, "How dare you! You have no right to wear that ring! Give it back or face the consequences!"

Seeing the old man take up a fighting stance with the villagers looking ready to form a mob put the two teams on edge, Naruto meanwhile still stared the man down. Pyrrha put a hand on her friend and captain's shoulder, "Naruto, what's going on?"

Not tearing his gaze away from the smoldering brown eyes of the Huntsman, Naruto bit out, "This is what the Grimm were after. This is why those two Beowulves were so intent on destroying this village. What I'm wondering is how these people got their hands on it."

"It was a gift from our patron! With it and the other nine rings we would have been able to give life to our god who would bring us salvation! Our ten tailed god would have wiped the world clean of all Grimm and you filthy Faunus, cleansing Remnant and ushering in an age of-"

The man was cut off when Naruto violently plowed his fist into the raving man's cheek, sending him to the ground.

Having heard how the man addressed Faunus, Velvet mood had instantly plunged, her hair now covering her face as she tried to look as small as possible. Of course her teammates did not take to kindly to this and Coco looked ready to copy Naruto's actions. Nora had gasped in shock, while Ren had a frown stretched across his face and Pyrrha was gazing at the fallen Huntsman in what looked to be pity and disgust.

"I've dealt with pricks like you enough times and heard enough stupid rants, I don't need to hear another one. We may have saved you this time, but if I were you I'd pray to that god of yours that another pack of Grimm don't attack, cuz I'll tell you right now, don't expect any help from us or anyone from Vale again," Naruto snarled.

Turning his back to the glaring old man, Naruto turned to Coco who was still keeping an eye on the bigot, "Our ride almost here?"

"Yeah, called it in when you went after that Beowulf so it should be here in a few."

"We won't just let you leave with that ring! You WILL give it back!"

Rising from the ground, the elderly man rushed at Naruto's exposed back, a shard of glass gripped tightly in his hands. The others were prepared for this though and were already reaching for their weapons by the time the old Huntsman had gotten up. The blond leader of NNPR however proved he was more than capable of taking care of himself when he turned around and grabbed the man's wrist, snapping it with ease.

The man cried out in pain as he felt the bones in his wrist being broken into pieces. Those cries died into whimpers when he stared into the now bloody crimson orbs of Naruto, his mouth slightly opened in a snarl showing off the elongated fangs, "Unless you want me to break the rest of the bones in your body, I'd give it up. This ring isn't yours and I am taking it for safe keeping. Don't like it? Too bad."

Tossing the still whimpering old man to the ground, Naruto raised an eyebrow when he turned around to see Velvet wide eyed and Coco looking at him with her own brow raised in questioning.

"Well now I see why you came to Velvet's defense. The whiskers should have given it away actually," the mocha haired leader of CFVY commented.

It was only then that Naruto realized that he had drawn upon Kurama's chakra in his rush of anger, something that hadn't happened for quite some time now. Normally it wouldn't be a cause for any worry, but to Naruto it showed that his control on his emotions was slipping. Again, normally not a bad thing, but if he allowed his anger and hatred to really get the best of him, even with him and Kurama being on much better terms, the ensuing rampage could be catastrophic. Each time he had lost himself to his anger, he had nearly killed someone close to him and it had taken the efforts of shinobi decades more experienced than him to restrain him long enough to snap out of it.

However said shinobi knew about his Jinchūriki status and had been prepared for just such an event. No one on Remnant could possibly be prepared for the power of an enraged Jinchūriki.

Sighing as he realized that the day was only giving him more and more to think on later, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, you could say I'm pretty familiar with being an outcast."

While everyone else was content to take his words at face value, Coco narrowed her eyes, taking note that the blond didn't say he was a Faunus, just that he knew what it was like to be an outcast. While most would wave it off, the elder teen was not so quick to dismiss it.

_'You're hiding something Whiskers.' _Whatever suspicions she may have had were put to rest when she saw a now cheerfully smiling Velvet animatedly talking with the enigmatic blond. _'But I won't pry...for now.'_

* * *

"Naruto, wake up," Pyrrha whispered to her snoozing captain.

It had been a few days since their joint mission with team CFVY and despite the amount of surprises said outing had for them, the four teens were quick to simply fall back on their old schedule like nothing had changed. Wake up, light training session, go to classes, do any homework, joint training session, shower, finish homework, and sleep.

Of course there were still questions many of them had concerning what had happened during the mission, Ren especially wanting his answered as they concerned what they had all thought was just their captain's cute pet. No one had bothered to approach said blond about their questions though as he seemed to be in some sort of haze, working on who knows what and muttering to himself. The three teens were very much so aware of their friend's inhuman stamina, but the loss of sleep and stress was getting to be enough for it to noticeably affect even Naruto. While sleeping in class was nothing new for the carefree teen, he was now beginning to do it in every class and for the entirety of the lessons as well.

During training sessions he was slipping up more and more, to the point that Nora had managed to score a decisive blow on him and crack most of his ribs. Pyrrha had ended the training session right then and there despite Naruto's protests. The red head second in command had also tried convince her friend to slow down and rest, but he had simply brushed her off with one of his usual grins. That didn't help though seeing as the gesture had none of the usual vibrancy and cheer that it usually did.

As the bell that signaled the end of class rang, Professor Port sending a knowing glance to the worried teens of team NNPR, team RWBY approached their fellow team, Ruby looking especially concerned for her fellow captain. Blake was looking at the sleeping form of her fellow "Faunus" with worry, wondering what was the cause of it. Yang managed to somehow look both angry and worried at the same time while Weiss attempted to maintain her aloof persona, though her occasional glance and frown in Naruto's direction defeated that purpose.

"Slept through the entire lesson again?" Ruby asked as her silver orbs worriedly went over the bedraggled looking blond.

Frown marring her face, Pyrrha nodded, "Slept through Professor Oobleck's class as well. I've tried talking to him, but he just acts like nothing's wrong."

Rolling up her sleeves, RWBY's busty brawler began marching towards her fellow blonde, "Give me a few minutes and I'll beat it out of him."

"Yang no! That won't help," the youngest of the group spoke, stopping her sister from pummeling her first friend at Beacon.

The raven haired teen of RWBY crossed her arms as she gazed at the snoozing, and now drooling, blond, "Did anything happen on that mission that would cause him to act like this?"

Pyrrha bit her lip in thought, "No. We defeated the Grimm, but found out that the village had some ring the Grimm were after. Naruto did seem pretty mad about them having the ring for some reason though."

"You mean the ring he's wearing now?" Weiss pointed out.

The others gazed at the piece of jewelry that sat on Naruto's left pinky, none of them having seen it before.

Ren decided to chip in, "I have seen him studying it and talking to Kurama. I can never hear what about, but the two do seem focused on it."

"Oh yeah! Fuzzy Wuzzy also disappears a lot and only comes back late at night," Nora beamed, feeling that she was helping. Despite her cheery attitude it was still noticeable to everyone that it wasn't her same level of being upbeat, clearly worried for her captain as well.

"Blake, isn't that one of those kanji things you're always reading? What's it mean?" Yang pointed out as she gazed at the ring.

Narrowing her eyes, the young cat Faunus peered at the kanji before raising a brow, "It could either mean 'Sphere' or 'Ball'. It doesn't really have any special meaning. Did he say why the Grimm would want it?"

"No, but the elder of the village did say something about it and the other nine rings being able to wake up their ten tailed god or something," Ren answered.

_'A ten tailed god? Where have I heard that? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember why,' _Blake pondered.

Her train of thought was interrupted when the formerly sleeping Naruto jumped up from his position, a kunai in hand and held to Yang's throat whose hand was wrapped around the ring on his other hand. For a moment no one moved, too shocked to even say anything.

"Foxy, it's me, Yang."

That one small phrase seemed to snap Naruto out of it as he lowered the kunai and stepped back, chuckling nervously, "S-sorry bout that Yang. Reflexes"

Before anyone could really say anything, Yang marched up to her fellow blond and grabbed him by his collar and pulled their faces close, "Alright Foxy, no more of this pretending everything's ok. We are all worried about you, and I am damn tired of seeing my little sister worry herself sick over you because you wanna be a stubborn ass. Out with it, what is up with that ring and why are you and your furry friend so focused on it."

Gazing around him, Naruto took in the worried looks of everyone around him, the sight of their stares making him hang his head, _'Kami I've been such an ass.'_

He and Kurama had been so absorbed by the rings due to their own worries of where the other rings were, but also fretted over what else had survived from their time. The most stressful thought was that if the rings had survived, then it was highly likely that the Gedō Mazō _(Demonic Statue of the Outer Path) _was also hidden somewhere as well. By itself the demonic statue was all but useless, but both Kurama and Naruto didn't know if the thing still contained the Bijū that the Akatsuki had managed to capture by the time they went for him and the Eight Tails Jinchūriki, Kirabi.

If it did, then whoever managed to get their hands on the ten rings and find the statue would have the power of either eight or seven of the Bijū at their disposal, something that even caused Kurama some apprehension. As such he had been sending out hundreds of clones to scour Remnant alongside the Kyūbi in search of any other artifacts.

So far they had managed to find the remains of a few of the minor villages, or at least where they once stood, and a few scrolls that gave them a vague idea of what may have happened after Naruto was sent into the future via Kakashi's Kamui. Still it was nothing solid, which did nothing to ease their minds. Most concerning was their inability to find any sign of any of the major hidden villages. He knew Konoha had a few items sealed away, like the Fūin no Sho _(Scroll of Seals)_, that would be guarded against even the ravages of time and figured the other villages would have similar systems, but neither his clones or Kurama could find anything.

Sighing Naruto nodded, "You're right, I have been an ass and I'm sorry. It's just the whole business with the rings has got me stressed and worried."

Satisfied that he had admitted to his own mistakes, Yang placed the blond shinobi down and put her hands on her hips, "Alright well, spill. What's up with these rings that's got you all worried?"

Running his hands through his hair, Naruto mentally shrugged, figuring that it would be pointless to lie to them, "Back home we weren't called Huntsman, but Shinobi."

"Wait you mean like sneaky sneaky, pajama dudes?" Yang asked.

Naruto had to laugh at that one, "No, we were more like mercenaries. You needed a job done, you could go to our village and ask us to do it for a fee. We'd do anything and everything from yard work to assassinations and espionage. However some people would have issues with their village and would abandon it. Of course seeing as how they knew village secrets like guard details and our techniques, this wasn't exactly smiled upon. They were called Nukenin."

Blake interrupted with a translation, "Runaway Shinobi."

"Yup. Most did it because they committed some crime or wanted money or something dumb like that. There was a group of Nukenin that got the attention of all our villages though. They were a group of ten extremely powerful rogue shinobi. One guy, Akasuna no Sasori-"

Blake again chimed in with a translation, "Scorpion of the Red Sands."

"Went rogue after he killed the leader of his village in battle and turned him into a human weapon. My teammate's brother was also apart of the group and had went rogue after he slaughtered his entire family in a single night, leaving only my teammate as the sole survivor."

The others could listen in abject horror as they heard the atrocities these people had committed. More worrying was how strong they had to be. If Naruto feared them and was any sort of measuring bar for how powerful these guys were, then there was no way anyone bar someone like Ozpin or Glynda could match them, and they were veteran Huntsmen with decades of experience under their belt.

"They called themselves Akatsuki."

The others looked at Blake expectantly, "Daybreak."

"Each member of the group wore a black cloak with red clouds on it and wore one of these," here Naruto raised his hand up to show the ring on his finger.

Pyrrha posed the winning question, "What were they after? And why do the Grimm want their rings?"

Sighing again as he realized that he would either tell them the truth here and now, or they would connect the dots themselves. Either way, there was no way he was getting out of this without lying to their faces, something he didn't want to do. They were his friends, his precious people.

"...there are nine monstrously powerful beings called the Bijū."

The young cat Faunus raised a brow at that one, "Tailed Beasts?"

Nodding his head Naruto continued, "They are the split pieces of what we consider to be the origin of all our powers, the Jūbi, or Ten Tailed God. Even split, they are almost like forces of nature and, being made purely out of energy, they cannot die. Once upon a time they were free to roam the land. The two founders of my village however had a falling out and in a battle, one of them called out the strongest of the nine, the Kyūbi no Kitsune."

Blake narrowed her eyes as dots were beginning to connect in her mind, a thought process shared by the others when she translated the name, "The Nine Tailed Fox."

Ren's eyes widened as he recalled the battle between Kurama and the Beowulf.

"My village's leader had the power to subdue the Tailed Beasts, but not even his power could fully tame it, so his wife, my ancestor, stepped in and thanks to her mastery of Fūinjutsu, she sealed the Kyūbi in herself, becoming a Jinchūriki."

Her own eyes widened as the connotation of what Naruto just said hit her and with a whisper Blake uttered out the translation, this time more out of shock than anything else, "Power of the Human Sacrifice."

Not exactly seeing the connection or why Blake was so shocked by the word, the others instead turned back to Naruto, now too far into the story.

"My village leader wanted there to be peace throughout the world so he and his wife went about collecting the other eight Bijū and gave them as gifts to the other major villages. The ultimate goal of Akatsuki was to take the nine Tailed Beasts and put them back together, reviving the Jūbi. After that, I don't know what they planned," Naruto finished out.

Seeing Blake already staring at him in shock, he knew that the proverbial moment of truth was now. It was here that he would either be accepted, or they'd call Ozpin and have him thrown in the looney bin faster than he could eat a bowl of ramen.

Weiss, seemed to be the most skeptical out of the whole group as she posed the million dollar question, "Wait hold on, if all this is true, how come none of us has ever heard of these Akat- whatever guys or these Tailed Beasts? And you said villages. I thought you were from outside the borders of the kingdoms?"

As one, his teammates and the rest of team RWBY turned to him, realizing that Weiss was right. Even if it had been outside the bounds of the four kingdoms, one man murdering his entire clan in a single night would have still been major news. And if Akatsuki was such a huge threat then the other kingdoms would have been notified and sent Huntsman as aid to stop the group.

'_Moment of truth,' _Naruto sighed, "That's because none of this happened recently, not even within the last century or so. All of it, the Shinobi lifestyle and Akatsuki are long dead, buried under the sands of time."

Pyrrha stared at her captain curiously, "Then how do you know all of this?"

"Because Kurama is the Kyūbi no Kitsune and I am his Jinchūriki. I am a Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato and, as far as I know, the only survivor of that time," Naruto admitted.

Jaws dropped as the other teens stared at their blond friend in shock as he confidently stated that he was a time traveler, a mercenary and child soldier from a past that had apparently been so long ago that no one in the present day even knew about it.

Far too thrown off by the bold statement, no one said anything for a moment, the others staring at him wide eyed while Naruto stared back with all the confidence in the world, not willing to back down.

"So you are a magician!" Nora shouted out, finally deciding to throw in her own two cents on the matter.

Whatever tension there may have been before was instantly shattered as Naruto began chuckling while the others could only sweatdrop in amazement at the oddity that was Nora Valkyrie.

With the tension eased, Yang felt it appropriate to ask her next question, "So what, you're some really old ass all powerful immortal here, because this is where Konoha used to be and you just so happened to get roped into all of this?"

Naruto stared incredulously at his fellow blond, "What? No, that's dumb and even more far out there than Nora thinking I'm a magician."

Both Yang and Nora gave an indignant cry at that, both feeling offended for different reasons.

Shaking his head as he and the others laughed at the two pouting teens, Naruto continued, "No. My village was being attacked by the leader of Akatsuki. I was one of the last Jinchūriki and so he came to get me to get Kurama. Me and my village fought as best we could against him and his army, but in the end we were losing, by a lot. In a last ditch effort to stop Akatsuki from getting their hands on me and by extension, Kurama, my original sensei used a special jutsu of his, Kamui."

Blake sighed as she saw the others turn to her, waiting for her to translate, "Authority of the Gods."

"It was a special jutsu only he and the leader of Akatsuki could use, but my sensei's was different. It allowed him to create a hole in space and time where he could send items or other people into. Anyways he used it on me and next thing I know is I'm waking up in some forest about to be eaten by some Grimm. Been here in Remnant ever since."

While the others seemed to be coming to terms with the massive amount of information they had just been told, Blake finally decided to voice something that been bothering her ever since she had figured out what Naruto was getting at, "Why did you lie to us? Why go through the trouble of creating these lies and most importantly why lie about you being a Faunus?"

It was extremely clear that the young cat Faunus was equal parts hurt and angry that someone she had trusted had lied to her face, especially after what she had disclosed to him. More than anything she was mad at herself for trusting him.

She wasn't alone though, Pyrrha and Ruby looking just as hurt.

Shaking his head, Naruto spoke up with confidence, "I never outright lied to you. I never told the full truth, but I never said I was a Faunus, you all just assumed that, because of how I look when I use Kurama's chakra."

Ruby , finally stepped up, her voice dripping with emotion, "Then why not correct us? Why did you let us believe all of that?"

Naruto sighed, _'Damn her cuteness! It should be a crime for someone to be so adorable!' _Ruby's cuteness aside, he shook his head, "How does this sound, 'Hey my names Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a shinobi from a few thousand years ago and this is my buddy Kurama, a super powerful chakra mass who could probably destroy Vale by accident. Nice to meet you!' Besides that, I only recently figured out I was in the future myself."

Sweat dropping, the other teens realized how strange that really sounded. They were more likely to call the nice men in white coats than they were to believe him, let alone continue a conversation with someone who opened with that.

Sure even if he had waited a while to tell them, they still would have been highly incredulous, if not outright called him a liar. Really, there was no early point at which he could have admitted the truth to them without there being some feeling of incredulity.

"Sorry," they chimed together.

The blonde time traveling shinobi waved them off, "It's fine, there were plenty of other times I could have at least mentioned something, so it's partially my fault as well."

Her fears put at ease, Blake asked another question, "So what now? Are you gonna try and find your way back to your time?"

Stretching out his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair, Naruto eased up, "A few weeks ago and I would have said yes, but Kurama said it's a miracle I made it the first time. If I tried again there's no guarantee I would even end up in MY time, something about the multi-verse. Besides, I like it here, I like being here with you all. My sensei sent me here and his last words to me were, 'Live the life you never got to' and I plan on doing that."

Wrapping an arm around her fellow blonde's neck, Yang cheered, "Good! Cause it wouldn't be the same without you Foxy!"

Nora joined in the cheer, "She's right! Who would be our awesome kick butt captain if you weren't? Besides that, you're the only one who can teach me magic! Then I'll become a magical queen and all my subjects will fear and love me, MUAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto turned to his only fellow male in the room, "She had pancakes with syrup again huh?"

Ren face palmed, but nodded, "I tried to stop her."

"Yes, but he was distracted when this huge Nevermore swooped down and picked me up!"

"She tripped over her own blankets and got tangled."

"But it's claws were no match for my might, and I managed to free myself using Magnahild!"

"She ripped a hole in the blanket."

"Ren stood in shock and awe of my strength as I tangled with the fearsome Grimm!"

"I was brushing my teeth."

Laughing just as loudly as the others as the two childhood friends continued on with Nora animatedly waving her hands around, Naruto let his mind wander, _'I'm sorry I couldn't save you guys, but thanks to you Kakashi-sensei, I'm happy and found precious people again. This time, I won't let them down.'_

* * *

"Cinder you can't be serious! The kid knows who you are! You'd have not just him, but that old codger Ozpin and his buddy Glynda on you in no time!" Roman Torchwick exclaimed to the shorter woman who was currently buttoning up a familiar looking cardigan.

Smoothing out the ends of her skirt, the raven haired woman turned around and gazed at her "accomplice", "Roman...shut up."

Without a word more, Cinder Fall exited the room, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the warehouse they were currently in.

Grabbing a cigar from inside his coat, Torchwick sneered, "Tch, whatever. More for me when they throw your pretty little head in the slammer for life, stupid broad."

"I don't think Cinder would like to know you're talking about her behind her back Torchwick."

Narrowing his eyes even further as the cold steel of a metallic green blade was held to his throat from behind, Torchwick laughed, "Oh please, me and her are just close like that! Besides that," twirling around he held his cane to the forehead of a young teen, "you should know when to to not mess with your betters, Emerald."

The now named Emerald, a mocha skinned beauty with mint green hair, wine red eyes, and a rather revealing outfit, grinned, not all bothered by the weapon aimed at her forehead.

"I don't know, do you see my better anywhere around here, Mercury?"

In response, a voice dripping in sarcasm replied from behind Torchwick, "I think he was talking about me. You are always so mean to me."

The mocha skinned teen rolled her eyes, "God I will pay you to shut up for one day."

The silver haired youth, his foot held up to the crime boss' back, feigned a hurt expression, "See! Besides you're the one who asked me a question, it's only polite I respond."

As the two teens bantered, Roman could only grit his teeth, realizing that no matter what he did, he was stuck. Knowing that either teen would put a bullet through his skull if Cinder gave the word did nothing to ease his mind.

"Enough, the both of you," said amber eyed beauty called as she stood in the doorway.

Emerald was quick to drop her weapons, apologizing to the elder woman, "Sorry Cinder. Roman here was just stepping out of line so I-"

"Acted without my say so. Buffoon he may be, but Roman still has his uses. Now let's go, Neo is quite eager to try on her uniform as well."

As the three left, Emerald childishly blew a raspberry at Torchwick while the effeminate man only sneered.

"Damn brats."

* * *

Naruto let out a yawn as he stretched out his limbs, the feeling of a good night's rest having refreshed him physically and mentally. Though the long rest wasn't really his choice and he had pretty much been ordered by both Pyrrha and Yang to get a full eight hours of sleep. While at first he had put up some resistance, the pleading look of his red headed teammate and the threatening look of his fellow blond had been enough to convince him otherwise.

Sitting at the edge of his bed as the last vestiges of sleep left his body, he had to admit that they were right. He was feeling far better than he had been feeling the last few days, his thoughts a little more clear.

Seeing the vacant beds of his teammates didn't surprise him, Pyrrha having told him the night before that they were going to get some personal training in. Again, he had tried to protest, but a stern look from his second in command quickly shut him up. Pyrrha was very much so a gentle caring person, but could be downright scary when she wanted to. He wondered if that was a trait common to all red heads or just the girls he knew.

Coming out of the restroom after having taken a soothing morning shower and taking care of his other morning activities, Naruto raised a brow as he saw a casually dressed Ruby petting Kurama as she gazed at all kunai, shuriken, and other shinobi tools he had on his desk.

Having heard the door open, the younger teen turned to greet the blond with a bright smile, only for her cheeks to instantly heat up as she gazed at the chiseled form of a shirtless Naruto.

He was by no means extremely muscled or anything, but it was pretty evident that he trained intensely. However what really caught her eye was the massive scar that lay over his heart. Sure there were a few others that littered his body, evidence of his lifestyle as a shinobi, but this particular mark caught her eye due to its size and position. It looked to be about the size of a fist and had angry lines arcing out from the center which lay directly over his heart. The scar was old though, the outer edges and most of the arcs having already faded or lightened up.

Seeing where her gaze was directed at, Naruto grabbed his nearby shirt and slipped it on, "Got that for being a stubborn idiot."

That really made Ruby wonder. That was no flesh wound kind of scar. No, whatever had caused it was more than likely life threatening, but the ease that the Jinchūriki brushed it off told her he wasn't exactly proud of what had happened to cause it.

"So what's goin on Red?" Naruto asked as he went about putting on his various weapons' pouches.

The young leader of team RWBY pouted, "No one wants to hang out with me! Yang said something about training, Weiss is busy with some dumb project, and Blake went to the library."

Chuckling, Naruto patted the still pouting girl on the head, "Well Pyrrha and Yang still have me on a strict 'No training' punishment, so how's about you and I go do something?"

Ruby only giggled as she nodded, "I still find it funny how you're afraid of my sister and Pyrrha."

Now it was Naruto's turn to pout, "They're scary -ttebayo!"

Having been there when her sister and his teammate had literally ordered him to rest and take it easy, she was inclined to agree. Still the fact that a battle hardened shinobi from the past was scared of two teenage girls made her giggle.

Rising to her feet, Kurama moving himself to her shoulders where he sat like he usually did with his container, Ruby had to take a moment to remember that the small adorable fox curled around her neck was actually a mighty beast who could destroy the four kingdoms on a whim.

After Naruto had told them the truth of what he was, he also explained just why the Akatsuki going after the Tailed Beasts was a very bad thing, telling them that the Bijū were not just powerful, but more like forces of nature, none more so than the one he contained. As the strongest of the Bijū and having the largest piece of the Jūbi's power meant Kurama was capable of flattening entire mountains and summoning massive tidal waves, all with the flick of one his tails.

"I'd watch it Red, Kurama has been putting on some weight," Naruto mocked.

Seeing as how Naruto had shared their secret, Kurama was happy to stop playing the part of a slightly more intelligent than average fox, and retorted out loud, "Says the baka who eats his own weight in that ramen crap!"

Gasping like an old woman who heard a young person curse in public, Naruto replied, "You take that back! Ramen is the food of the gods!"

Sweatdropping as the two continued to hurl insults at each other like bickering siblings, Ruby also noted how hard it was to believe that Naruto was in all actuality a child soldier who had years more training and experience than some active Huntsmen.

Really it was hard to believe the whole situation, but the facts and signs were there and hard to deny. Shrugging off those more serious thoughts, the young teen interrupted the two squabbling time travelers with a loud whistle. Seeing that she now had their attention, Rby smiled, "Well let's go! I heard from Pyrrha that you guys had found this awesome weapon's shop!"

Seeing the twinkle in her eyes as she said that, Naruto was reminded of how his godfather looked when he found out that Tsunade had decided to make a trip to the local hot spring to unwind. He had that same twinkle in his eyes even after said busty Sannin had proceeded to beat him within an inch of his life after she caught her teammate peeping on her.

Disregarding the odd look in Ruby's eyes, Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, sounds like a good idea. I do have to drop off some supplies to them and pick up some stuff."

As the three left the room, Naruto decided to ask Kurama something, _'So, why are you ok with her carrying you and not anyone else except me?'_

The Bijū took a moment to respond, _'She reminds me of you when you were younger; optimistic, stubborn, childish, naive, and eager to prove yourself.'_

Having expected a sarcastic response, Naruto was caught off guard by the honesty with which Kurama spoke. Grinning the teen shinobi stretched his arms out behind his head, _'So you do have a soft spot for me.'_

'_Tch, I said when you were younger. You're just a stubborn jackass now,' _Kurama mocked.

Sweatdropping at the quick change in attitude, Naruto replied, _'Love ya too, fuzzbutt.'_

* * *

"Back already blondie?" the mustached Geoff asked as he saw his now favorite customer/business partner walk through the doors of the AH store.

"Yeah, figured I'd drop off some more scrolls and tags and pick up some supplies too," Naruto replied.

The tattooed store owner would have said more if he didn't spot Ruby who currently had her face pressed against one of the glass cases that housed some of their more high end items, looking like she was about ready to start hyperventilating.

"Hey, no...being creepy with the merchandise."

The young girl quickly removed her face from the glass case and, blushing in embarrassment, nodded her head, "Sorry about that. I can get a little carried away with weapons."

Laughing at the adorable girl, Geoff waved her off, "It's fine. My daughter can get like that too. Got it from my wife I think." Turning to see Naruto depositing two scrolls, one holding the explosive tags and the other more sealing scrolls no doubt, he addressed the blond, "By the way, Cinder came by looking for you."

Narrowing his eyes at the mention of the woman, Naruto asked, "She say why?"

The man shrugged, "Nope, just to told us to let you know she was looking for you."

Before they could continue with their business, a easily recognizable voice shouted from the back, "Oh bollocks!"

Following that was an explosion that rattled the store.

Already knowing who was responsible, Geoff put palm to face and slumped over in depression while Naruto shook his head and chuckled. Ruby looked to be concerned, but was more confused by her friend and the store worker's lack of surprise.

Muffled by his palm, the leader of the Achievement Hunters let out a frustrated groan, "Argh! Gavin! One day! One day without you fucking something up is all I ask for!"

Without a word more, Geoff went through the doors leading to the back room, yelling being heard seconds later, leaving a still chuckling Naruto and an even more concerned Ruby still very much so lost.

"Uh...what just happened?"

In response, the blond shinobi waved her off, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Of course this did nothing to answer any of her questions, and she would have been more worried that this was apparently normal if not for what she considered normal. She was friends with a shinobi and a talking fox. Besides that she was a fifteen year old attending Beacon a year ahead of time, because she helped thwart a robbery orchestrated by infamous crime boss Roman Torchwick. Yeah, she didn't exactly do normal.

Dropping her head as she realized this, she patted her knees, "No more normal knees for me."

Patting the young teen on the head, Naruto sagely nodded his head, "Worry not young one, being normal isn't all that fun anyways."

The two shared a laugh before leaving the store, the yelling still coming out of the back along with the occasional high pitched scream of pain.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Naruto was prepared to ask Ruby what she wanted to get for lunch when he somebody bump into him. Turning he was greeted by a pair of wine red eyes and mint green hair. The girl, who looked to be about his age, apologetically waved her hands, "I'm so sorry! Wasn't watching where I was going."

The blond grinned and nodded, "It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going either."

With a smile and a wave, dark skinned teen was off. Watching her turn the next corner, Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Ruby, wait here."

Not even giving her a chance to respond, the Jinchūriki was off in a mad dash, following the girl.

* * *

"Get anything good off him?" Mercury asked as he saw his partner turn the corner.

Said teen scoffed, "Tch, no. All I got was this stupid piece of paper, with some scribbles on it. Guy must be broke or something."

"No, I just know where to hide stuff to stop pickpockets like you and let me just say, you are far from being good," came a voice.

Turning both Emerald and Mercury were shocked to see the subject of their conversation standing there with his arms crossed and looking only slightly annoyed.

Rising to the insult, the mint haired teen snarked back, "Oh yeah? And how would you know?"

Grinning, Naruto pulled out a familiar looking beaded bracelet, "Cuz I'm better."

Wide eyed, Emerald looked down at her arm to see that the bracelet she normally wore was gone.

Having lived on the streets for a few years in his childhood and being the village pariah had forced Naruto to learn certain skills just to survive. Pick pocketing a regular civilian was no problem, but doing so when in a village where a little more than half the population were trained killers, thieves, and cheats required far better reflexes, stealth, and ingenuity. If at the age of twelve he could paint graffiti on the Hokage Monument, a literal mountain, in broad daylight wearing a bright orange jumpsuit without getting caught until he was finished, then pick pocketing an unsuspecting teen his age was easy as pie.

Reaching behind her, Emerald pulled out her twin pistols, aiming them both right at Naruto who seemed unfazed, drawing out Hi no Ishi in a flash.

"Give it back," the thief snarled.

* * *

**AN:** I know I promised longer and more action packed chapters, but I didn't want to delay this chapter any longer than I already have. It should have been done a few days ago or yesterday, at the latest. Obviously that was not the case. I apologize as I got distracted by taking care of some video editing among other things. Fret not though, there WILL be a fight next chapter, as you can tell by this ending. I was also gonna have an omake, something I had to nix in favor of actually getting this chapter uploaded and out to you all.

However there was the final reveal of what Naruro is to the others! Why didn't I make a bigger deal out of it? Why wasn't there this huge amount of drama? I personally don't think it fits any of the characters. Now this doesn't mean everything is all peachy keen either though. There are still some things that need to be worked out, especially in regards to Blake and Pyhrra whom both received the half truth treatment more than most of the others. So while the bulk of the drama is out of the way, there are still some loose ends that need to be taken care of.

In regards to why Naruto is seemingly getting stronger for no reason: at the start he was purposefully limiting himself to the basics to not give anything away. He wasn't sure he'd even stay in Remnant or what his situation was. Now? He's come to accept his situation and is comfortable with using things like Jutsu and all that good shinobi stuff. Again I stress that this doesn't mean he'll be stomping all over everyone. There will still be Grimm, old and powerful ones, that will give him some trouble. There will be Huntsman, experienced ones like Ozpin and the like, who will cause him to actually try.

Just a friendly reminder that my cover of the Get Him to the Greek song The Clap is on my YouTube, which is linked on my profile!

Y'all know the drill! Questions, comments, concerts, critiques? Leave a review. Want something answered ASAP? PM me!

Have a good one! Until next chapter!

Peace


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Welcome back to another chapter of what is so far my, in my opinion, best written story! Something I can say thanks to all of you who leave helpful critiques and reviews. I know I do this a lot, but really, thank you. I originally started writing fanfics on a, "well fuck it, why not," kind of whim and didn't really know what to expect.

A year and some months later and here we are, 700 reviews and a thousand plus follows and favorites on an eleven chapter, 93,000+ word adventure of a story. I can not stress how much your reviews, and pm's, mean to me. Without all this feedback I would've tossed my hands into the air and moved on to something else, so again, THANK YOU, YOU BEAUTIFUL FUCKING PEOPLE.

I also want to take the time to thank those few who actually go from here to watch my YouTube covers, something I would love to be able to do more professionally. To do that, I would like to see the same feedback - or at least a quarter of it - on that front as well. There's like a 1000 or so of you people, help me at least get a hundred please?

Sappy shit out of the way, onto the reason you're all here!...well actually reviews and stuff first, then the story.

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**Q:** Is Ruby in the running for the pairing?

**A:** As much I admit the pairing makes sense and would work, nope. They'll just have a really good friendship.

**Q/C:** Didn't Cinder and her group infiltrate Beacon during the second volume/semester? And Neo wasn't apart of that group.

**A:** I admit this is true, but I moved that whole thing up by a few to get some interesting filler and plot stuff done. Besides that, I am still torn on whether or not to pair Cinder with our blond Uzumaki. This will help me to figure that out. As for Neo, I saw someone draw Neo in the Beacon academy uniform and couldn't resist. I have a weakness for short girls with dyed hair, sorry.

**Q/C:** Emerald and Fuu, Sasuke's reincarnation.

**A:** This is along the lines of Have a Little Feith's whole reincarnation idea. I'm not gonna outright say who is linked to who from the Naruto timeline, because I don't want it to be a gimmick. I will drop hints like I have in this past. Other than that, Naruto never actually met Fuu if I'm not mistaken. She had already been caught by Akatsuki. I think the only other Jinchūriki he actually met were Gaara and Kirabi. Emerald also wouldn't have Chomei even if she was Fuu's reincarnation. The Bijū could still be trapped within the Gedō Mazō, or something else. Who knows...well I do, but I'm not telling yet. As for Sasuke, there was a point. He SHOULD be reincarnated thanks to that whole "Asura/Indra transmigration" thing. Hmm.

**C:** The rush on last chapter.

**A: **Again, my fault. I know the pacing was off and some stuff was skipped and what not, and that is something I did willingly. It was either rush the chapter to get it out or risk not doing so and having it sit there for another week or more. This chapter will hopefully fix all of that.

Happy to see that everyone was pretty satisfied with my decision to not make the whole "Naruto tells the truth" thing all angsty and what not though. Some were concerned that it wasn't as...impacting, but like I said, it's not all done and over with. There are still some loose ends that need to be tied up.

As a small aside, you guys think I should start pasting the ending of the previous chapter in the new chapters as a recap? Or should I just do a simple recap? Or do nothing? Let me know what you think.

Any Fall Out Boy fans out there? If so I posted my cover of their song Hum Hallelujah over on my YouTube channel so go check it out por favor. I'd be super appreciative if you also helped spread the word about the channel and stuff. Releases are gonna be a regular thing on it.

Story time ~

* * *

Despite the twin pistols currently aimed at him, Naruto couldn't resist wondering if a tumbleweed would blow through and really make the whole moment feel like an old western dual. His short lived dream of taking part in a shoot out was further put down when he realized that he didn't really have the appropriate weapon. He was quick to change moods though, _'Hmm, wonder if I can get one of the AH guys to augment Hi no Ishi with a rifle like Pyrrha's or something.'  
_  
The blond shinobi's thoughts on chakra enhanced bullets were pushed to the side when he felt two very familiar presences closing in on him. Turning his head slightly, Naruto shook his head as he saw Ruby poke her head into the entrance of the alley with an adorably curious look on her face.

The other person was a lot more subtle with their approach and surprised the would be thief and her partner by appearing beside them, "What did I say about acting without my permission Emerald?"

The mint haired teen was quick to sheath her two weapons and tried to utter some apology, which Naruto was quick to cut off, now far more serious with the appearance of the amber eyed femme fatale, "Why am I not surprised these two are with you, Cinder?"

While Emerald was ready to let out a retort addressing the blond teen's disrespecting her boss and idol, Cinder only smirked that saucy grin of hers, "If you took me up on my offer I wouldn't have to resort to them, let alone that buffoon."

Narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms, Naruto voiced his suspicions, "I still don't exactly know what it is you're after and with the current company you keep, well I'm not too eager to help you out."

If the raven haired woman was offended, she did well to hide it, "Then maybe it's time we had that chat of ours."

Knowing that Ruby was still nearby, the blond Jinchūriki reached out to his tenant, _'Kurama, keep Red safe.'_

The Tailed Beast grunted, acknowledging his container's request, _'Watch yourself. She may not be giving off anything of note, but I still don't trust her.'  
_  
Keeping Hi no Ishi on hand, the blond shinobi followed after the much shorter woman, apprehension painted clearly across his whiskered cheeks. Even with the serious atmosphere that had settled into the moment, Naruto still couldn't resist his prankster urges as he passed by a scowling Emerald. With a cheeky grin he casually tossed her the bracelet along with two familiar looking ammo cartridges, "By the way, next time you point a gun at someone, you should probably check if it's loaded first."

Wide eyed, the mint haired teen hurriedly grabbed one of her guns only to see that they were indeed empty, the weapons that much lighter.

_'Nobody steals from Uzumaki Naruto -ttebayo!'_

* * *

After a short walk through the market district, Naruto was only slightly surprised when his raven haired companion led him to the seedier part of Vale only to end up at a very familiar looking club. It seemed that despite the heavy damage that had been dealt to the business, Jr. had managed to get most of it cleaned up and looking decent. Still it was pretty clear that renovations were still being done, sections of the wall that Kurama had obliterated lacking paint and/or drywall.

Walking in, the blond shinobi raised a brow when he saw that what was usually a rowdy night club where various illicit activities took place was now a decent looking restaurant. Seeing the confused look on his whiskered cheeks, Cinder commented, "During the day Jr. has the club operate as a high end eatery. It caters to some of those richer elite politicians and cops which is how he keeps them off his back."

Whatever opinions Naruto had regarding the club owner, he had to admit that the man was smart and crafty. No doubt using said smarts to gain the funds to keep his business up and running.

It was only seconds later though that a familiar set of twins had captured either of the Jinchūriki's arms in their grasp, seductive smiles stretched across their pale faces.

"You know, boss was pretty miffed that you went and blew up his club like that," the one in red commented.

The other white themed sister took her turn to speak, "And then left without leaving a tip."

As the two continued to talk, Naruto felt his instincts screaming at him to be prepared for a fight. His intuition was validated when he felt two sharp blades pressing into him, one aimed at the back of his neck and the other aimed at his shins. Again, the shinobi in him applauded the twins for their tactics. They had lured him in with words and then trapped him. If he tried anything, he'd have a new hole in his neck or be without the bottom part of one his legs. Neither was really a favorable option.

Then again, situations like this weren't really new to him either. He had evaded the cold grasp of the Shinigami _(God of Death)_ and taken much more severe wounds and still managed to come out on top against opponents decades more experienced and powerful than him. Uzumaki longevity and bullheaded-ness was pretty useful.

However Naruto soon found that he didn't need to worry about defending himself when Cinder gave the twins a stern glare and placed her manicured hands on his shoulder, "He's with me and unless you want to be the ones to explain to Jr. why I stopped coming here, I'd let him go."

The identical sisters shared a look before reluctantly releasing their hold on him. Without a word more, the twins left to go do whatever it was they did, leaving him to follow the amber eyed woman into what looked to be a private room. The small space, enough to fit the two of them with enough room for a handful of others, contained a finely polished table and set of chairs with simple lanterns hanging from the ceiling serving as the only light source. The door that separated them from the rest of the patrons also held the only window, a small square cut into the top half of the entrance.

All in all, even Naruto, being as dense as he was, knew that it was perfectly furnished and lit for a romantic and private dinner for two.

Taking the seat across from his current companion, Naruto found himself on the receiving end of an intensely curious look, something he found oddly out of place on a confident woman like Cinder. When the minutes began to tick by with no words said, Naruto began to grow impatient. Deciding that enough was enough, Naruto broke the silence, "Why did you protect me back there? I could've taken care of them."

Cinder was not at all fazed by the brash and bold statement, "I have no doubts about that, but I didn't want to get sidetracked any more than we already have."

Needless to say, the blond was a little surprised that the woman across from him was so confident in his own skill. He was positive the only time she had seen him fight was that night back on the docks, but that small victory was due to them not expecting him to intervene, much less toss out such a destructive force like the Fūton: Rasenshuriken then follow it up by breathing out a broiling stream of flames that took on the form of a mythical beast. Yet Cinder acted as if she knew how strong he really was, something not even his teammates were really sure of.

"How are you so confident in my fighting abilities? Before today we've barely even spoken a few sentences to each other."

Cinder's visage took on the smoldering and seductive look Naruto had begun to associate her with, "Despite what you may think, I know quite a bit about you, Naruto Uzumaki. Chakra user, Shinobi of Konohagakure no sato, and - most importantly - Jinchūriki to the Kyūbi no Kitsune."

As soon as the last words left the woman's voluptuous lips, Naruto had leapt over the table, Rasengan in hand and a cold look in his blue orbs. However the mysterious beauty showed she was not one to be caught off guard so easily, back flipping over her chair, the lines on her maroon dress lighting up as she called forth a wall of fire, stopping Naruto short.

Still this was barely considered an obstacle to the teen as he coated his other hand in a generous amount of wind natured chakra and easily cut through the flaming defense, continuing his charge towards the femme fatale.

As the blond shinobi was inches away from his impromptu opponent, he shoved his arm forward, intent on burying the swirling ball of chakra into Cinder's abdomen. Again, the skilled woman easily evaded the jutsu at the last second, the Rasengan instead drilling harshly into the wall behind her. Taking advantage of Naruto overextending himself, Cinder used her control over the flame Dust that lined her dress and coated her hands in it before grabbing ahold of the Jinchūriki's arm, the fire eating away at his jacket sleeve with the smell of burning flesh soon following.

Instead of burning straight through his arm, a feat she was no doubt capable of, the raven haired beauty shoved a burning fist into Naruto's solar plexus with enough power to send him crashing into the table. Of course it would take much more than that to put an Uzumaki Jinchūriki down, Naruto already on his feet and speeding towards Cinder once more with Hi no Ishi in hand. Twirling the shakujo, the blond shinobi aimed a swing at her legs.

The amber eyed beauty merely stepped back to avoid the swing, following up the dodge by stepping on the black metallic staff, effectively keeping Naruto from using it, or so she thought.

Having used the bottom half of his weapon to deliver the swing, Naruto gripped the inner bar of the ring that sat atop Hi no Ishi and pulled, drawing out the chokuto that lay hidden inside. His left hand still holding the sheath/staff portion of his weapon, Naruto used his right hand to try and stab Cinder. Once more the petite woman showed her years of experience, in a flourish of flames summoning twin blades of a charcoal gray to parry the stab aimed at her with one, the other quickly cutting through the blond's shirt and jacket, a splash of crimson trailing after the now bloodied weapon.

Despite the minor flash of pain from the wound, Naruto continued with the fight, his healing factor already kicking in to close the small cut. Lifting his left hand which still held the staff portion of his weapon, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki attempted to throw his opponent off balance, the blade of Hi no Ishi singing as it cut through the air in a horizontal swing.

Using her smaller stature and flexibility, Cinder was able to crouch just underneath the sword swing and, going with the force of Naruto lifting up the staff still caught under her foot, executed a perfect backflip. She wasn't done there however, as her bottom half lifted into the air, her foot smashed into the underside of the whiskered teen's jaw with a resounding crack and a flash of fire, sending Naruto into the far wall.

Gracefully swirling her arms around her, her twin blades were consumed in a quick flare only to reveal that she now held a bow of the same gray color as the blades. Notched in the bow were three burning arrows, aimed at where Naruto had been sent into the wall. Without even blinking, she let the arrows fly.

Instincts screaming at her, Cinder dodged at just the right time to avoid being pummeled by the compressed ball of air that shot out from where she thought Naruto was. Of course that train of thought was forcibly expelled from her head with Hi no Ishi being buried into her side.

A quick glance to the slight dent in the wall showed Cinder the blond duplicate in the wall going up in a small cloud of smoke, the arrows she had shot flickering out. The Naruto in front of her, who she was sure was the real deal, was breathing heavily, yet showed no real signs of having taken any damage. What really put the raven haired fighter on edge was the noticeable change in the blond's eye color. They were still predominantly that easily recognizable shade of blue, but there was a clear amount of crimson beginning to leak in, the whiskers on his cheeks also becoming much more noticeable.

_'He's starting to draw on his Bijū's chakra. This isn't good. I need to stop this now or all of Vale will soon be dealing with a very angry Jinchūriki.'  
_  
Again Cinder's thoughts were halted when she felt the cold steel of a blade being held up against her throat while the blond who she had thought to be the real deal went up in a cloud of smoke.

"How do you know about the Bijū?"

Despite the situation and the ease with which her life could very well end in the next few seconds, Cinder found herself grinning, "Impressive. So this is what a shinobi is capable of."

In turn, Naruto's tone only grew colder as he pressed the the edge of his blade further into the still smirking woman's neck, a thin line of blood showing he had cut into the skin, "One more chance. If you don't spill it, I'll be spilling your blood."

The smirk finally fell from her alabaster cheeks, "I had that idiot Roman steal some very old scrolls from a museum for me. In them they spoke of the Tailed Beasts, monsters of such power that they could bury cities with ease."

While that made sense as, even if the shinobi lifestyle was buried in the sands of time, it was much harder to forget about the nine monstrously powerful creatures who had once upon a time roamed the lands, something still wasn't sitting right him, "How do you know what a Jinchūriki is? Or what Konoha was."

"Same way I found out about the Bijū," Cinder confessed.

Considering that he himself had managed to find a fair few of said scrolls, some even covering some basic jutsu or another, Naruto was hard pressed to argue. There was also the fact that the knowledge contained in the scrolls could do little else than be just that, knowledge to anyone of this day and age. Anything laying around like that, that could be opened without the need for chakra more than likely wasn't all that important as well.

Still what bothered him most was that not only did the amber eyed woman know about the Bijū and shinobi, but that she had managed to connect him to it all. It had taken him literally spelling out the truth to his own friends and teammates, people he lived with, for them to connect the dots and yet this woman had managed to do the same thing with only the knowledge of ages old scrolls and a few encounters.

"Why? Why go through all this trouble? Finding those scrolls and books isn't exactly easy, I should know," Naruto asked as he loosened his hold.

"I need allies, allies I can trust to take care of themselves," Cinder admitted.

Fully releasing the woman, Naruto backed away and gazed at the person in front of him as if he were barely seeing her for the first time, "Allies for what exactly?"

Sauntering up to the confused blond, Cinder smirked as she trailed a finger down his whiskered cheeks, all the while staring straight into his cerulean orbs with her own amber ones, "Let's talk about that."

* * *

"Are you sure it was okay to leave Naruto like that?" Ruby asked curiously as she made her way back to the port where Beacon students could catch a ride back to campus.

Kurama, still wrapped around her shoulders, merely cracked open a single eye, "He'll be fine. Kit may be an idiot, but he can take care of himself and if need be, I can be at his side in a flash."

Hearing the confidence the Bijū had in the blond, the young teen decided to take his word for it. The chakra monster had been with Naruto longer than she had and would be far more knowledgeable about where said whiskered teen stood, strength wise. However it did bring up a very good question that had been swimming through her head as of late. Though the blue eyed teen had told them the truth of who he really was, he hadn't really given them the full story of it all, just what he was and how he had ended up in Remnant. Even that had been abridged.

"Hey, Kurama?" the petite teen asked. Taking his following grunt as an acknowledgment, she continued, "How long have you and Naruto been together? And how did he even become your...um...what was it? Jun...Jink-"

"Jinchūriki and we've been tied to together since he was only a few minutes old. As for how that came to be...it is a long story better saved for when the brat is here. What I can say is that the circumstances that lead to us being bound together is not one of the proudest moments in my existence," Kurama admitted.

Looking back at the night that began all of this, the fox was ashamed. He had tried to kill an innocent babe not even an hour old and regardless of the way he had been treated in the past, to try and do something so horrid was in no way justifiable. His father would have been highly disappointed with him. Shaking himself from such thoughts, he observed the curious look on Ruby's face. Clearly she wasn't satisfied by the answer, but had the decency to not push the matter.

Of course, Ruby wasn't exactly the type for silences, so after only a few seconds of nothing being said, she posed another question, "So there were eight other of you Bijū right?"

Kurama just nodded his head in an affirmative.

"So were you like siblings or something?"

Hearing that, the Kyūbi instantly had flashbacks to the days long before even the shinobi era, when he and the other Tailed Beasts attempted to further their father's dream of peace in their own ways. Being that he could sense negative emotions, he had taken it upon himself to snuff out any and all large gatherings of said emotions. Still, despite their many quarrels and differing views, for a time he and the other Bijū really had been like siblings. As the ages past and Hagoromo's two sons continued their fight over whose ideal was the true path to peace, the burden of what they were and the festering darkness that began to swallow their world got to them.

Shukaku went insane, Matabi hid her hurt behind a perverse facade, Isobu hid himself away from the world, Son Gokū and Saiken stayed relatively the same though kept their interactions with humans to minimum, Kokuō took Isobu's idea and hid himself away, while Chōmei busied herself with her forests, and Gyūki became apathetic about the world around him. Eventually he felt the toll as well and ironically gave into the very anger and rage he had tried so hard to keep from festering.

Of course he voiced none of this and instead let out a noncommittal grunt, "Something like that."

"So what was Naruto like as a kid? I bet he was like the smartest and most talented of his generation and everyone looked up to him, huh?" Ruby asked with an excited gleam in her eyes as she conjured up the mental image of a miniature Naruto breathing our fireballs with ease as people cheered.

That came crumbling down as Kurama began to uproariously laugh, "HAHAHAHA, that gaki? Smart? Talented? Hahaha, oh that's a good one."

The young red haired teen was left baffled. Sure Naruto was goofy and more often came off as reckless and ignorant, but from what she had seen, he was equally as powerful and someone with convictions and a will to be admired. It also didn't help that Blake had let it slip that he was the son of his village's leader. In her mind, and no doubt the minds of the others, Naruto was a prodigy and had been looked at as such.

Seeing her confused look, Kurama decided to elaborate, "Look, Naruto's childhood is something only he can tell you as that is a rather personal topic. What I will say is this though, it wasn't pretty and he fought tooth and nail to get to where he is now. The Naruto you know now is the result of the blood, sweat, and tears shed from the harsh training he put himself through and the sheer stubbornness to never give up. He wasn't and will never be a prodigy."

For a moment, Ruby could do nothing but stare in slight awe at not only what Kurama had said, but how he said it as well. For as long as she had known Naruto and the Tailed Beast, she had only seen the Bijū sleepy, uncaring, or angry, but the sheer conviction and assuredness that he had just used to convey his words was almost like he was stating a scientific fact.

Before the silver eyed teen could ask any more questions, a familiar voice called out, "Ruby!"

Turning around, the cloak wearing teen grinned as she waved at the approaching forms of her teammates and the members of team NNPR, "Yang! What are you guys doing out here?"

"Looking for you and Foxy! We've been wondering where you two were and why you weren't answering any of the messages we sent to your scrolls!" The busty blonde exclaimed as she attempted to strangle her younger sister via hugging her.

This of course disturbed Kurama's resting spot on the young girl's shoulders so he quickly vacated and took up a similar post on the only other person he was ok with being around, Pyrrha.

When Ruby was finally allowed to gather some much needed air into her body, she nervously laughed at the inquisitive stare of her sister and friends, all wondering why she hadn't responded to their calls.

"Uh...I may have forgotten it on Naruto's bed. Whoops?"

Weiss was less than happy about the carelessness of her captain and was more than happy to express that, "Forgot it!? How could you forgot the thing lets us all talk to each other!? What if we needed you!?"

Yang, while just as disappointed by her sibling's careless mistake, was not just gonna stand there and let Weiss chew her out and tried to intervene on her behalf.

While team RWBY descended into bickering with Blake shaking her head off to the side, Pyrrha turned to the Kitsune curled around her shoulders, "Why hasn't Naruto been answering any of our calls?"

_'How to tell her that he's currently dealing with either a possible ally or enemy, one intent on using any means to get him on her side?' _Kurama pondered. While he would briefly enjoy the trouble caused by his telling Pyrrha just that, in the long run it'd just give him more headaches.

Luckily the Kitsune was saved from having to explain anything when a grinning Naruto walked up to them with a bored looking Cinder at his side.

"Hey guys! What're you guys out here for?"

Yang was quick to trap her fellow blond in the now customary headlock, "Looking for you! Why weren't you answering any of our messages!? Huh!?"

Of course the whiskered shinobi was unable to respond with his windpipe being restricted by the bombshell's stranglehold, his face beginning to comically turn blue.

Being the more rational of the group, Blake pointed this out to her teammate, "Um, Yang. He can't exactly talk with you crushing his throat."

Blinking owlishly, the blonde looked down to see a flailing Naruto about to pass out from lack of oxygen. Releasing her hold, she chuckled, "Whoops."

Hands on his knees, Naruto gasped out, "Dear kami, I thought I was going to die. Thanks Neko-chan."

Part of the ravenette was childishly miffed at the shinobi's nickname for her, but the predominant part of her was currently busy trying to fight down a blush. Of course her pale skin tone didn't really help in this endeavor. Luckily for her, the others were distracted by a perversely grinning Kurama's comment.

"What a way to go though, ne?"

Though he may be dense when it came to matters of the opposite sex, even Naruto was able to catch the not so hidden meaning behind the kitsune's comment, a blush heating up his whiskered cheeks. Yang, knowing full well the effect her usual dress coupled with her developed figure had on most males (and some females) above the age of 12, only grinned and was quick to take part in one of her favorite past times - teasing Naruto.

"Aww, does Foxy not like my hugs?" Yang mockingly cooed as she held a furiously blushing Naruto to her chest.

Due to his current position, the whiskered teen could do little more than sputter, far too embarrassed to actually form a coherent thought. While this was hilarious for most everyone to watch, two certain females found themselves oddly uncomfortable with the sight of Naruto's face buried in Yang's cleavage.

Luckily for them, a certain femme fatale decided to intervene and put a stop to the teasing, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and kill my partner with your...jokes."

For the first time since she had arrived with their blond friend, the others took notice of the petite and well dressed woman who had been silently watching the proceedings.

Still holding Naruto to her, Yang raised a brow and greeted the unknown woman with her usual brash attitude, "And who are you?"

Finally managing to free himself from the possibility of death by mammaries, something which both of his now deceased senseis would have no doubt admonished him for, Naruto coughed to into his hand and took on his usual grin, "Guys, meet Cinder Fall. Her and a few of her...friends, will be coming to Beacon in the next few days."

Most of the group took well to the news, greeting the ravenette with smiles. However, Blake and Pyrrha found themselves somewhat put off by the newly introduced woman.

_'Something about her just doesn't sit right with me,' _the Faunus of the group pondered with narrowed eyes.

The redhead of team NNPR was uncomfortable for an entirely different reason though, _'Why did she call Naruto her partner? There's just something about her, and I don't like it.'_

Still Pyrrha was nothing if not polite and kind to everyone, and so introduced herself with a smile, "Pyrrha Nikos, Naruto's partner and second in command."

Only a few took note of how the "Invincible Girl" introduced herself. Knowing full well that the redhead of team NNPR was crushing on her friend and captain, whether she'd admit it or not, Yang began to snicker. Rubbing her hands together, a mischievous grin made its way onto the brawler's face as she began to plan how to use this for her own entertainment.

She wasn't the only one though, a certain Kitsune mirroring her thoughts, _'Oh this is gonna be interesting. Wonder how I can get that Blake girl involved as well?'_

Ignorant to the scheming of Yang and Kurama, Cinder grinned at Pyrrha, having caught the slight challenge, "So you're the 'Invincible Girl' I've heard so much about. Naruto speaks highly of you."

Hearing that had Pyrhha's pale cheeks heating up with a blush. She knew Naruto was quick to say the first thing that came to mind, a quality she found endearing to him, and to hear that he apparently was more than happy to compliment her even when she wasn't around was somewhat embarrassing for her.

Cinder was however thinking much differently than that, _'So this is the famed Pyrrha Nikos. She's bright and talented, I'll give her that, but nothing that can't be dealt with if need be. She may think she's close to him, but I know for a fact he hasn't told them everything. They may be his teammates, but I can offer him something more - closure and to someone like Naruto, that means more than anything.'_

* * *

Later that night found Naruto staring up at the moon atop his usual perch, one of the many towers that jutted up from the main building of Beacon. He wasn't alone though, a very quiet Blake having decided to join him in his late night activities. Naruto himself didn't mind, knowing that the young Faunus enjoyed her own peace and quiet, something he needed to better sort out his thoughts.

What Cinder had revealed to him earlier in the day had been hard to swallow, even for him and he had only been in Remnant for almost a year now. That wasn't to say that he cared any less for it, especially now that he had come to accept Vale - and more specifically Beacon - as his new home. While he was still on the fence on whether or not he would willingly help her cause, he couldn't exactly say he would stop her from continuing what she was doing either.

Before he could drown in his thoughts of what if's, Blake's voice broke through the night air, "Did you lie about being treated badly in your home village?"

Wide eyed, Naruto realized that, although he had told them possibly the hardest part of the truth to swallow, he had also confessed to - somewhat - lying to them, causing them to question what was truth and what was not. To someone like Blake, who had told him some of her most intimate secrets that she hadn't even told to her own teammates yet, this was dangerous territory. If he didn't fess up and set things straight with her, he may very well lose her friendship.

"No. We Jinchūriki weren't looked at in a good light. At best, we were tools for our villages, a weapon to unleash should the need arise. At worst, we were inhuman, lucky that we were allowed to even breathe the same air as the others of our villages. Most Jinchūriki were chosen specifically at birth for the task, I wasn't so lucky," Naruto admitted with a somber tone to his voice.

Raising a brow in curiously, the raven haired teen urged him to continue, "What do you mean?"

"Remember how I said my mom was a Faunus?" Naruto asked. Seeing the proverbial light bulb go off in her head, he continued, "That's right, my mom was Kurama's Jinchūriki before me. Unfortunately when a female Jinchūriki gives birth, the seal on her weakens slightly and without proper care, their Bijū could very well escape. Luckily my father was a master at Fūinjutsu and was prepared. Everything went smoothly...at first. When I was born, some masked man somehow managed to find us and threatened my father, saying that if he didn't move away from my mom, he would kill me."

Blake could only gasp in horror, imagining how vile a person would have to be to threaten the life of a not even minutes old newborn.

Taking his hand through his hair, the whiskered shinobi continued, "Of course my father wasn't called the Kiiroi Senkō for nothing. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough and Kurama was freed. The man was able to control him and sent fuzzball into a rage, leaving the strongest of the Bijū to wreak havoc on Konoha. Eventually my parents managed to get the man to flee, however Kurama was still rampaging throughout the Leaf. My dad did the only thing he could think of and used what is known as the Shiki Fūjin."

The teen Faunus took a moment to do the translation in her head, "Dead Demon Consuming Seal."

Naruto nodded his head, "It's a powerful summoning technique that allowed the user to summon the Shinigami who would then either take the target's soul or seal it into something, at the price of the user's own soul. My dad used this to seal Kurama into me. Because of this my dad was damned to eternally rot in the stomach of the Shinigami while my mom had suffered far too many wounds after having Kurama forcefully taken from her, something that would kill most other Jinchūriki."

"So in essence, you were a hero. You were given the task of holding back the Bijū who had almost destroyed your home," Blake surmised.

Shaking his head in sadness, the blond teen sighed, "You and I both know that most people aren't exactly accepting of something different from them. To the villagers who did not understand the intricacies of Fūinjutsu, I was no longer just a kid, but the Tailed Beast that had almost destroyed their home and taken the lives of their loved ones. To others I was a walking time bomb, a fragile cage that would eventually break and unleash Kurama again."

Having been a victim of the harsh prejudice against the Faunus people, Blake could not disagree and only grew depressed as she realized the full scope of the life Naruto had been forced to live. An orphan at birth, no family, and ostracized by his own home for something he had no say in. Still though, one thing seemed to bug her, "But how could they treat the son of their village leader like that? How could they hate the son and love the father?"

"Like I told you before, no one except a small handful of people even knew I was his son. My father was an S Rank shinobi who had slaughtered an entire battalion of enemy Nin in the blink of an eye. Suffice it to say he wasn't well liked by those other villages and announcing that I was his son was pretty much like painting a big red target on my back for them," Naruto elaborated.

While she wasn't exactly happy about the situation, Blake realized there was nothing she could do about it. It had happened centuries ago and Naruto seemed to have come to terms with it. That didn't make any more ok though, and the frown etched into the ravenette's pale complexion said as much. However the curiosity in her was pushing her to ask one last question, "How bad was it?"

The Jinchūriki wasn't exactly surprised by the question and had actually been expecting it. He also realized that anything bar the absolute truth wouldn't satisfy the cat Faunus. Didn't make it any easier to talk about though, "I grew up in the orphanage. The matrons would tell the other kids to stay away from me and would only feed me because they had to. When I was four I was kicked out, the matron saying I was old enough to fend for myself. I spent a year on the streets scrounging for food. Most places refused to serve me and those that did either jacked up the prices or gave me rotten food. Anytime I tried to play with other kids, their parents would take them away, telling them to stay away from me, that I was a demon. When I was five, the Sandaime Hokage found me in an alley. He gave me my own apartment and a stipend to pay for anything I would need. Still nothing changed. The adults who had been around during Kurama's attack saw me as a demon and their kids followed the example and stayed as far from me as was possible."

As Naruto kept going, Blake could only grow angrier and angrier, her hands clenched into fists as her entire body shook in rage at the idea of an entire village treating a single child, a toddler no less, like he was a leper. It not only exactly mirrored the strife that Faunus had to deal with on a daily basis, but it was actually worse for her blond friend. The Faunus stood as a united group, they fought for their rights and knew that even if they were treated like shit by the majority of the populous, they still had their family, they still had other Faunus to go to. Naruto had no one and was forced to weather the prejudice alone.

More than anything though, she was angry at herself for doubting the whiskered teen. He had been nothing but kind to her and treated her not as a Faunus or even as a Huntress, but as Blake Belladonna. True he had kept some secrets and not told the entire truth, but he didn't do it with bad intent. It was just the opposite really. He had done it out of his own uneasiness and his want to protect them from the shock of having such a huge bomb dropped on them. Despite his childhood, despite the hurdles he had to overcome, at his core, Naruto Uzumaki was a caring soul and she had doubted that.

"I'm...sorry."

That was something not even he had expected. Outrage at how he was treated? Sure. But for her to apologize? Not at all. What left the blond even more stumped was the reason for the apology. Blake hadn't done him any wrong as far as he knew, so in his mind there was no reason for her to be apologizing.

"Sorry for what? It's not like any of it was your fault."

In response, the ex-White Fang member shook her head, "No, I'm sorry for doubting you! It's just...after you said you hadn't been entirely truthful I started questioning everything. I felt like you had betrayed my trust, and that hurt. But, I've realized, you never gave me a reason for that. You've been nothing but sincere, even if you weren't telling the whole story. So I'm sorry for doubting you Naruto."

What happened next took Blake by surprise. Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around her, engulfing her smaller form in a warm hug. Of course she was far from being used to such random acts of affection from the opposite gender and blushed heavily. What he said next only darkened that blush.

"Silly Neko-chan, you don't have to apologize for that. I know what it's like to trust someone and then have them spit on it in return. I can't blame you for something that is really my own fault. So no more apologies or anything."

While it wasn't exactly a chilly night out, for some reason as Naruto began to unwrap his arms from around her, she felt like she had just lost the most comfortable blanket ever. With a heavy blush, Blake hurriedly wrapped her own arms around his back and buried her face into his chest, mumbling, "Um...is it ok if we stay like this? It's...kinda cold."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. He had originally meant to hug the young Faunus as a gesture of friendship and to console her. However with her face buried in his shirt and the smell of her hair, a subtle flowery scent, wafting into his nose, Naruto realized the position they were in. Dense he may be, but even he realized that they looked like a couple embracing. Oddly, this triggered a thought process similar to the one he had when the old lady who ran the coffee shop they had went to had mistakenly called them a couple.

Blake Belladonna was a beautiful young woman. Her long pitch black hair was soft - something he only now noticed with it tickling his chin - and held that pleasant smell to it. Her alabaster skin was smooth to the touch - again something he only now noticed with his arms wrapped around her - and sent a pleasant shock into him every time he grazed her bare arms. What struck him though was the feel of their current position.

Growing up as the village pariah had left him severely stunted in the displays of love and affection department and it hadn't been until he had grown closer to Tsunade and her apprentice Shizune - the former who had begun to take on a distinctly motherly role in his life while the latter was the elder sister - that he had begun to receive the kinds of hugs and affectionate displays that most children received growing up. Tsunade had particularly taken to placing soft kisses on his forehead in a show of her love for him, and despite his age, he had welcomed them. Shizune was all too happy to accept his hugs and even returned them.

But that was a familial love. This close and intimate hug he was in, was very different. Sure there was still that welcoming surge of warmth and contentment, but considering it was coming from a very attractive female his own age, someone he connected to rather well despite their personality differences, marked this hug as different.

Then came the ideas, the mental images of them - he and Blake - as a couple, and Naruto found himself hard pressed to say the thought wasn't pleasing. He was no longer the boy who yearned for any kind of attention, but a teen who had been through hell and now found himself in a place where he could settle down and really make a life for himself without the threat of some megalomaniac coming after him for the Tailed Beast in his gut.

Blake was meanwhile busy with her own thoughts, her mind racing to figure out why she was blushing and why she had even asked for this in the first place. She was no stranger to the concept of love, or even sexual attraction, but to her it was a foreign thought. She had done such horrendous things while in the White Fang, and despite having come to terms with those actions, Naruto having helped her in that endeavor, she still didn't think she was worthy of it. She who ran from her precious life. She who ran from who and what she was. She who was still trying to run from that life.

In Blake's mind, she didn't deserve the happiness and joy that came with falling in love, let alone falling in love with one Naruto Uzumaki who seemed to be a pillar for all things good. While they shared many similarities, mainly their backgrounds as outcasts and killers, they were also opposites. She had run from her responsibilities and tried to distance herself from that life, never wanting to get any closer to others in a bid to save herself.

The blond Jinchūriki however accepted who and what he was wholeheartedly. Not only that, but he was the type of person to do what he thought was right regardless of what anyone else thought. Most of all, he seemed to have a hero complex, coming to the aid of any and all who needed it, whether they wanted it or not.

Case in point, the Ruby and Weiss issue that could have very well ended with team RWBY either being disbanded or worse. Yet he had stepped in and knocked some sense into the Schnee Heiress, all because he didn't want to see his friends go down that route. Then there was the whole Cardin mess. They had all sat there and stared in disgust at what Cardin was doing, yet it had been Naruto who had actually tried to do something about it, not even caring that he had never once met Velvet.

Sure she knew he wasn't perfect. More often than not he was brash, loud, cocky, and far too stubborn, but those were actually endearing to him. Those qualities coupled with his past and heart of gold made him who he was.

As Blake pondered on all this, something clicked. The feelings of jealousy that surfaced anytime she heard the rumors of him and Pyrrha being together. The unease she felt every time she saw Yang or Coco tease him. The feeling of warmth she got anytime she was near him. It all finally clicked.

_'I'm falling for him.'_

Far too wrapped up in their own thoughts, the two failed to hear the approaching steps that began to grow louder and louder. As the two gazed into the other's eyes, the door to the stairwell that led up to the roof slammed open, shoving them out of their own reverie. Wide eyed and blushing, yet still holding the other, Blake and Naruto turned to see their teammates staring slack jawed at them.

Yang was the fastest to recover and grinned with her hands in her hips, "Well well well, so this is what you two are up to when you you're alone. I gotta say, I never took you for that kind of girl Blake!"

"Yang!" Ruby attempted to scold her sister for teasing the two, though the heavy blush that stained her cheeks only made it look comical.

Nora turned to Rem who stood at her side, a slight blush dusting his own cheeks, and bluntly asked, "Hey Ren? Do you think that if Blake and Naruto had kids, they'd have whisker marks and be awesome magicians too?"

The random question was enough to break the camel's back, Yang sent to the floor rolling in laughter as Blake and Naruto finally parted as if they had been burned by the other. Ruby, Ren, and Weiss all looked away with a blush, embarrassed that they had intruded on what they thought was an intimate moment for their friend and teammates. However one person did not laugh, nor was she blushing in embarrassment.

Pyrrha stood stock still, the image of Blake held in Naruto's arms as they gazed at each other like a couple burned into her mind. For a reason she couldn't fathom, it felt like a knot had just formed in the pit of stomach, unknown feelings of jealousy rising to the surface. Why was she jealous though? Blake was a beautiful and intelligent girl. Even she could see that. And yet still the thought of her and Naruto together unsettled her. Why did she want Blake to stay as far away from Naruto as possible? Why was she suddenly angry at herself for waiting? Waiting for what? Naruto was her friend, she should be happy that he had found a girl to make him happy. And yet she wasn't. Just the opposite.

_'I..I don't want him to be with another girl. I want him to be with...me...'_

* * *

**(Omake #1: **How Jiraiya tricked Naruto into losing his virginity.**)**

Naruto Uzumaki was many things. Lucky beyond reason, loyal to a fault, and a general ball of sunshine to those he considered his precious people. One thing he was not was patient. Months into the two year training trip he had been sent on with his mentor, Jiraiya of the Sannin, and the perv had only begun to teach him how to recognize and break out of Genjutsu _(Illusionary Techniques) _and how to better control the stupid fuzzball's chakra.

Even that had been slow going though! The lecher had the nerve to only show him the basics and then he was off gallivanting with some prostitute or peeping on some poor hot spring in whatever village they happened to be staying in.

"I swear, I'm gonna send a message to Baa-chan _(Granny) _and tell her how Ero-Senin _(Pervy Sage) _isn't even teaching me anything! Then she'll beat his ass and then maybe he'll teach me, -ttebayo!" A young Naruto declared to himself.

Before he could put his grand plan into action though, a certain peeping shinobi of fame, and infamy, appeared in a flurry of leaves in front of his young apprentice, with several bright red slap marks dotting his bruised face.

"Where the hell have you been Ero-Senin!? I thought you were supposed to be teaching me some super cool jutsus so I can go rescue Sasuke!"

It may have been the pounding he had taken from the women who had caught him peeking that rattled his brain, or the hangover from a night of partying at the local brothel - probably both -, but after hearing almost exactly the same thing hollered at him from his young charge, Jiraiya was at his wit's end.

_'I don't remember Minato being as loud as this gaki. Then again, he may look like him, but the kid sure as hell has got his mother's attitude. Hmm, maybe I should tell him about them already?' _

Looking down, the Toad Sage could only sigh upon the sight of a still ranting Naruto trying to verbally tear him a new one, _'Nope, definitely not ready. Man, if only he would get laid, maybe then he'd realize why the female body is so majestic. Wait...that's it!'_

Standing tall, Jiraiya coughed into his fist to get the attention of a fuming Naruto. Seeing that he had done just that, the powerful shinobi continued, "Well gaki, I was actually out preparing for the latest thing I'm gonna teach you!"

Naruto's mood did an instant one eighty, and he was soon grinning widely at his mentor, "Really!? What is it!? Is it some super awesome Katon jutsu!? Or how about the Shunshin!?"

Grinning at the genius of his own plan, Jiraiya shook his head, "No, it's something integral in being my apprentice. You don't know this, but I am Konoha's foremost spymaster and am crucial in making sure that the Hokage is up to speed on the going on's of all the other villages. I have spies everywhere! Even some in other Hidden Villages like Kumo and Iwa!"

Hearing the way the old pervert phrased it made it seem like one of the most vital and dangerous jobs in Konoha, bar being the Hokage of course. At the ripe age of thirteen and still somewhat naive to the way the world worked, Naruto bought into it and stared at his sensei with awe, "That's so cool! Are you going to teach me how to interrogate someone like that Ibiki dude!? Or some super cool sneaky jutsu that makes you invisible!?"

Seeing his plan already working, the Toad Summoner had to hold in the evil cackle that would have made even his twisted and demented former teammate Orochimaru shed a tear in pride, "I warn you gaki, this training will be harsh. You will be far more tired than you would have ever thought was possible."

This only served to excite the young blond even more, "I'm ready Ero-Senin!"

"Off we go then, my young apprentice!"

Gripping the shorter teen's shoulder, the two disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

Naruto was left dumbfounded when he instead of some high tech training ground or cell, he was instead sitting on a rather comfy and plush king sized bed with several candles laying around, serving as the only source of light. What raised the weirdness bar even higher, was the beautiful and scantily dressed female who walked into the room with a predatory grin on her face, staring him down like he was a piece of meat. He began to back up on the bed frantically as she sauntered to him, that look only growing stronger as she licked her lips.

Panic set in when the Jinchūriki felt his back hit the headboard of the bed. Left with nowhere to go, he began to sweat as the "scary woman", as he dubbed her, crawled her way up the bed. One hand on the side of us against the headboard and her legs trapping his own between hers, while a well manicured nail raked across one of his whisker marks, the lady breathed out, "Don't worry, my specialty is popping cherries. I've never encountered a Jinchūriki before, but your sensei says you have lots of stamina. Let's see if that translates into the bedroom as well."

On the other side of the bedroom door, a cackling Jiraiya furiously began to scribble in his little notepad as the sounds of panic began to morph into grunts and groans.

"The gaki's a gold mine! Why didn't I do this before!?"

A quick flash of the Kyūbi's chakra however set his instincts on edge and Jiraiya was up in his feet in an instant, ready to kick down the door with a grim look on his face, his writing forgotten. Of course that changed however when, instead of screams of pain or horror, a very different kind of scream breached the walls of the room.

"OH MY KAMI YES! JUST LIKE THAT!"

Jiraiya was propelled backwards as a jet stream of blood furiously poured out of his nostrils.

A wide grin stretched across the old pervert's face as the sound of a bed slamming into the walls and more screams of pleasure bounced off the walls of the brothel.

_'Best. Idea. Ever.'_

* * *

The day following that saw Naruto doing his best to imitate a tomato whilst hiding in his jacket as a noticeably limping woman enthusiastically waved a goodbye. Jiraiya himself could not stop grinning like a fool as he flipped through several notebooks full of writing.

"Gaki, I will teach you any jutsu you want as long as you let me manage you."

"DAMNIT ERO-SENIN, I AM NOT LETTING YOU PIMP ME OUT!"

"BUT NARUTO! A FEW MORE TIMES AND WE'LL NEVER HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN OUR LIVES!"

"NO!"

"BUT!"

"STOP ASKING!"

"C'MON! PRETTY PLEASE!?"

"SENNEN GOROSHI!"

* * *

**AN: **Aye! Another chapter down! Was originally trying to have this out a few days ago, Thursday, but work has kept me very busy the past few days. I had a weekend off and managed to get a chunk of it done, but waking up at six in the morning and working until about 5 most days left me wanting to do nothing but sleep.

But hey! I didn't rush and actually took my time! Lots of stuff in this chapter! So let's get to some of it.

The Cinder and Naruto fight. Bet you weren't expecting that, huh? Well it wasn't a full out fight. They were in a small space and neither revealed their full hands. Why was Naruto getting hit more often? Well despite his power and skill over most of the students at Beacon, Cinder is much older and therefore has much more experience. Naruto may have started younger, but Cinder has also had more time to perfect her fighting style. We haven't seen much of her fighting in the series, but considering she easily went toe to toe in a Dust match with Glynda, who can fix entire streets and destroy countless Grimm with the flick of her wrist, well Cinder is definitely up there in the RWBY powerhouses. She was also able infiltrate Beacon's library, take down several armed guards with ease, instal...something, and fight Ruby - all with enough time to escape and join Mercury back at the dance.

That said, Naruto has taken far harsher beatings than some empowered punches and kicks and still managed to come out on top. Naruto is one durable motherfucker, so him getting hit a few times is really not a concern to him. Plus this was him using more of the Huntsman style of fighting, relying more on Hi no Ishi and speed than his jutsu.

Bunch of other stuff too. Like the whole Blake thing at the end. I tried my best to do it and still stay in character for them, so hope I did well. No this doesn't mean Blake is the for sure pairing. Just means she's gained a leg up on the competition and is the first to realize her blossoming feelings for Naruto. No, it won't be an instant "Oh I like him," Big Bang boom, they're doing the nasty. It won't be slow going either, as some authors do, so don't get all pissy. I myself get irritated when a romance takes like 30 damn chapters to even begin being featured. So there.

Again I'd like to state that no there won't be like extreme cat fights and friendships being put into jeopardy, there will be a sense of rivalry.

Finally followed through on the promise of the Omake as well! Hope ya enjoyed it. If it tickled your funny bone, then let me know so I know whether or not I should keep doing em.

There's a lot of other things I could say, but they would all severely lengthen the AN, so I won't do that. If you do have questions, leave a review or shoot me a pm.

On an unrelated note, I finished watching Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) recently and both loved and hated it. The premise was great, dialogue was entertaining, and the show itself was addicting. The one thing that bothered me the most was Yuki. God I could not stand the guy. Cried like five times every episode, whined about literally everything, and just ugh! I wanted to fucking throat punch him and tell him to man up. Like fuck dude you got this beautiful girl willing to kill for you, and the power to predict the future. Man. The. Fuck. Up. And yes I know Yuno was a Yandere, but I may be in the minority when I say I don't mind. Shoot I kinda wish I could find a girl like that. I forget where I read it but somebody summed up a Yandere as "A loyal girlfriend and bodyguard in one."

I don't know, maybe I've been reading too much eroge and shit. Whatever. Though I feel like writing a Naruto story with him paired with a Yandere Hinata. Imagine that? Like Hinata has the perfect setup to give Yuno a run for her money. Quiet and cute one second, but the second someone bad mouthes Naruto, BOOM! Jyuken to the face. And we all know there isn't a shortage of people willing shit talk about Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura would be like number one on Hinata's shit list.

Ok ok, before I keep ranting like some cliche villain (maybe I should do vlogs on my channel) y'all know the drill. Question, comment, or concern? Leave a review. Want something answered ASAP? Pm me.

My cover of Fall Out Boy's Hum Hallelujah is live on my YouTube so go check it out and share it please?

Hope you all have a fucking wondrous day/night, and fuck anyone who tries to shit on you...metaphorically. If someone actually tries to shit on you then that's a whole different problem...unless you're into that. If so then...yay for you?

Peace out!


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: **Step right up, come one one and all. I will be your host tonight, welcome to the dreams of hell. You're in for a wild ride!

If you can guess what that's from, you get brownie points! My hint will be, it's a song off a recently released album from a band from North Carolina.

That said, as usual I'm always happy to see some familiar names in the reviews section. If you haven't noticed by now, I've recently tried to take on a rather rigorous upload schedule of a chapter every other week to coincide with my video releases. Why? Well it forces me to actually work on the story, something which I need from time to time, and also helps out my views count on those videos.

Speaking of feedback...

Questions/Comments/Concerns

I would like to take the time to specifically address Spartan Ninja as they left a rather well thought series of critiques that I feel should be answered by themselves and for others to read.

First, why the fight? You raise a few good points, normally Naruto really wouldn't just go straight for the killing blow like he did. However let me put it this way. Naruto has just recently come to terms with his now permanent stay at Beacon. He is now happier than before because he has genuine friends who accept him for everything he is and is even more worry free because there is no Akatsuki. There is no Obito. His presence is no longer a threat to those close to him, and outside of those he's told, he feels like the shinobi era and the knowledge of it has faded away. He is content with the thought that the shinobi lifestyle will die with him.

Then here comes someone whose intentions he has no idea about outside of them being involved with Roman Torchwick, a known criminal mastermind. Despite Kurama's negative emotion sensing not saying anything about them, his own instincts have him on edge. They then confess to knowing about him, about the Bijū, knowledge he thought no one should have. And well it snowballs from there.

Why didn't Cinder try and diffuse the situation? Although she may profess to knowing a lot about him, she still isn't 100% sure if Naruto is what she thinks he is and if he is what she wants him to be, a powerful ally. This was her own way of being able to figure that all out.

The scrolls. That's something that got rushed due to my own hurry to get chapter 11 out. I should have said more, but again I was in a hurry. My bad. But Naruto finding more remnants (haha) of his time will be playing a big role in the chapters to come.

Why were they looking for Blake and Naruto? No you didn't glaze over it. It's Yang and Nora, neither really need a reason to do the things they do. Yang because she does what she wants for fun, and Nora because...she's Nora, nuff said.

Thank you for the honest feedback in regards to the omake. I will keep that in mind for future reference.

OK, QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

Due the lengthy-ness of this AN, and in a bid to stop you all from riding me about it detracting from the word count I will let you in on a secret. Anytime I check the word count, I do so by highlighting only the ACTUAL story, leaving both AN's out of the word count.

Crestfallentwiliight: I do that for a few reasons. A) because to Naruto it is his native tongue. B) just because he can translate it, doesn't make it any less valid. C) in many languages, words and how you say them actually have meaning, they have power. They invoke a certain emotion, or even way of thinking. Take jutsu for example. Katon: Karyuu Endan. It invokes that feeling of power, of passion and fire when you say it. As opposed to Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. It sounds lame, lackluster. So when you get down to it, it sounds so much better.

Thank you everyone else who left a review. If you're wondering why I took the time to answer them, and not you, it's because they left reviews that had an open end for discussion. Doesn't mean I value their reviews anymore than the ones who said stuff like "Naru x Blake FTW!". That shit makes me smile. Not everyone has to tear apart what they're into. Some are content to just simply like a thing, and I get that. So thank you for those reviews!

So apparently quite a number of you also enjoy the idea of a Yandere Hinata story. I shall think on this. Also for those who said Road To Ninja Hinata was Yandere, you'd be incorrect. Sure she's more confident around Naruto/Menma, but that's it. Yandere's are FAR more possessive and in some cases are even willing to kill and murder to gain the attention of their crush or protect them. Again, Yuno from Mirai Nikki is the textbook definition of a Yandere.

Also out of curiosity, how many of those who actually read and enjoy this story, or any of my stuff, are females? I'm not doing this in some sort of bid to find a girlfriend, but more out of my own need to know something. To those females, if there are any, am I portraying the women and girls of the story in a believable and good manner? I am by no means a Social Justice Warrior, or White Knight, (I can already feel the drama just by saying those names) but I am genuinely curious as to how I am doing. You don't need to leave a review, but if you could shoot me a pm I'd be much appreciative.

Quick note that I uploaded a cover earlier today. If you're a fan of Monstercat and the Monstercat artist Varien, then this is for you. I did a guitar cover of his track Valkyrie II: Lacuna, so go check it out please?

Ok! Before I anger you all any more for prolonging it, here is chapter 13! The start of quite a few changes!

* * *

Monday morning was shaping up to be the first rather normal day team NNPR, especially Naruto, had in a rather long while. For some this would be a welcome change to the roller coaster that had been their lives since arriving at Beacon. Of course Naruto Uzumaki didn't really do normal. It's not that he enjoyed all the drama and trouble that he usually found himself involved with, but he also wasn't exactly fan of sitting in a chair as Professor Port rambled on about some other adventure of his either.

His only solace was that it thankfully gave him ample time to think. The whiskered teen was especially grateful for this when he thought about the strange way his redheaded teammate and the Faunus of team RWBY had been acting when around him. Both had been making it a point to spend more time with him, alone usually, and had taken to hugging him or even invading his personal space bubble quite often. And honestly, it baffled him.

He and Pyrrha had grown comfortable enough with each other to not really mind the occasional brush of skin or such, but she seemed like she was now actively trying to initiate such moments.

Blake's recent actions were even more confusing to him. He knew he was one of the few, her team included, that the usually reserved teen would actively associate with, but she had gone from occasionally going to the library with him to spending almost as much time with him as Pyrrha did, a drastic change if there ever was one. Not that he was really complaining. He rather enjoyed spending time with both of them, and after that night on the rooftop, he found himself wanting to spend more and more time with Blake.

Naruto was torn from his inner thoughts when he noticed everyone packing up their things and getting ready for whatever class was next. This made the whiskered blond especially happy when he realized that since today was Monday, he and his team had battle class with Glynda next.

Stretching in his seat, Naruto grinned, "Ah! Feels good to stretch after being in that chair for so long, -ttebayo!"

Next to him, Pyrrha let out a giggle, "You say that every day Naruto."

The blond pouted, "Not my fault, Port is so boring. Did he even actually get to anything in the book?"

Ren sighed and shook his head as he got up from his own seat, "I'm inclined to agree with our captain here. Professor Port is lacking in certain teaching...aspects."

Nora chose this time to jump from her own desk, and her nap, "No! We have to save the pancake prince from the waffle invaders!"

Luckily all but a few people had vacated the lecture hall, and those that were left were already used to the odd antics of the hammer wielder. Team NNPR, just shook their heads at their eccentric teammate as they made their way to the practice arena where Glynda held her classes. Today was an especially good day in Naruto's books, because it was their once a week practical where they would be asked to fight under some sort of condition, be it with a handicap or with a certain goal to aim for.

It was these practicals where Naruto's past profession left him head and shoulders above almost the entirety of Beacon. Then again, most of the students would never have to deal with pedophilic snakes with an unhealthy love for young boys, a megalomaniac Uchiha bent on world domination, and the countless other dangers of the shinobi era.

_'Jeez, I really was a danger magnet,' _Naruto realized with a sweat drop.

Kurama butted in with a snide remark, _'Was? You still are a danger magnet or did you forget about the dangerous vixen who is actually now only two feet from you?'_

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Naruto realized what his partner meant, Cinder standing there with her arms crossed in the standard Beacon Academy uniform. To her left was a visibly irritated Emerald while that silver haired guy whose name he didn't know stood to her side.

The whiskered teen's attention was brought elsewhere when he felt someone in his own personal space bubble, having gotten there without him even noticing. Turning around he found a certain fun sized teen standing there with that adorable, yet dangerous, smile on her face.

Seeing her there, silently gazing up at him with her heterochromic eyes sent a shiver up his spine and he couldn't help but let out a yelp as he jumped away from her and hid behind Ren.

Seeing their captain, someone who they knew to have faced countless dangers head on, be so frightened by the adorable teen sent laughs through team NNPR and even those alongside Cinder were chuckling.

In return, Naruto pouted childishly, "She just surprised me that's all!"

Surprisingly Neo's face shifted from far too adorable to looking like she was about to cry any second. Naruto may have the guts, and stupidity, to face down the Kyūbi no Kitsune and call it a fuzzball, but not even he could fight against the heart wrenching sight of an adorable girl on the verge of bawling her eyes out.

And so, against his better judgement, Naruto conceded and engulfed Neo in a hug. The petite pink/brown haired girl instantly went from sad to happy as she returned the hug and nuzzled into the taller teen's abdomen, a sight which had even Cinder mentally admitting that the sight was far too cute.

It was at this moment that Glynda made herself known, "Good morning. It's been long enough that I believe you all know how this works by now. Today we will be having our practical. The handicap for the matches will be that you are only allowed to use your weapon and hand to hand skills. No Aura or Semblance use will be permitted. The reason for this is that you will occasionally find yourself in situations where you either need to conserve your Aura or be completely cut off from it. As such we will see how you all fair without it and the rest of this week will be aimed at working to fix any holes in your style."

While Naruto could definitely see the merit of such a training plan, he had to admit it was a moot point for him. As an Uzumaki Jinchūriki he could toss out S rank jutsu for a few hours and that wasn't even taking into account Kurama's chakra that he could draw on at any time. The likelihood of him running low on chakra was all but nil.

Still he had to admit that he could use the practice. His little bout with Cinder had shown him just how much of gap there was between him and veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses. Sure he could easily bridge that gap and then outpace them with chakra, but as a Huntsman, well his skills were severely lacking.

"For today, each of you will be randomly paired with a partner. Pairs will then spar with myself and several other professors overseeing the matches. Afterwards you will be free to clean yourselves and go about with your days. Understood? Good, then we will begin with the pairings. If I say your name, step up and wait for your partner to be announced, afterwards you will be taken to another area for your matches," Glynda intoned in her usual no nonsense voice.

Names were quickly being called as some sort of small screen next to the blond deputy Headmistress displayed them. Ren was the first of the people he knew to be called up and was paired with some random guy who Naruto didn't care for. Emerald followed not too long after and was again placed against some no name. The only male on Cinder's team was paired with some rather attractive brunette who wielded what looked to be a pair of short swords. Nora was paired with yet another person who Naruto knew nothing about. Finally Pyrrha's name came up and he offered her a cheesy grin and thumbs up. The redhead only giggled before walking to stand next to the screen, waiting for her partner.

The name that flashed on the screen however had Naruto's smile instantly falling off his face.

"Cinder Fall of team CMNE (Carmine), step up."

The ravenette was stopped from doing so when a harsh grip around her upper arm halted her. A feeling of malice and hatred soon began to permeate the air around her, sending her body on high alert as it was drowned in the suffocating miasma. A breath on the back of her neck sent chills down her spine as Naruto's voice, far more gravelly than it usually was, whispered in her ear, "I may not be able to argue against your cause, but if you do anything to hurt Pyrrha, I will show you why we Jinchūriki were used as deterrents for war."

Cinder's peripheral vision allowed her to see that Naruto's normally bright blue eyes were now twin pools of ruby red, his whisker marks far more noticeable. The scrolls she had found had painted Jinchūriki and their Bijū as instruments of death and destruction, capable of equalling an army by themselves. However she was now highly aware of how big of a gap there was between that knowledge and actually experiencing the feeling of being so close to such a powerful entity. This, the feeling of death that now lingered around her as Naruto, Jinchūriki to the most powerful of the Nine, let loose some of that power, was indescribable. It made her feel small, weak, and beyond frightened.

Under this suffocating pressure she wasn't a trained Huntress who could easily frighten notorious criminal masterminds or kill even elder Grimm. No, she was a small child staring down something far worse than the boogey man.

However, as soon as the feeling came, it was gone, Naruto once more the grinning and waving at his curious teammate. Cinder took the time to resume her usual facade and walked up to join Pyrrha. She wasn't there mentally though, her mind far too absorbed in her thoughts.

It had been a long while since Cinder Fall had felt such a...primal fear. It wasn't the fear of the rational brain. No it spoke to that instinctual part of her, a remnant of her ancestors who had been around when the Bijū were free to roam the earth. It was the fear that a little mouse felt when the eyes of an owl were on it, the fear of a prey when in the presence of a creature far further up on the food chain than it.

And she couldn't help the thrill that shot up her spine as she remembered that feeling. She was by no means a masochist, but to know that there was someone with the power and ability to strip her bare, leave her feeling as vulnerable as a new born child was refreshing. Sure she held no doubts that there were surely people and forces out there that could defeat her, but she was also confident in her ability to make them work for it.

Naruto made it clear that he could - and would - very well unleash the full might of his Bijū, a living force of nature capable of leveling the entirety of Remnant if allowed to do so, should she step out of bounds.

And if there was one thing most knew about Cinder, it was that she respected power and more so those with the confidence to truly put that power to use. Naruto's display had shown he had both in spades.

_'I WILL have you as an ally Naruto Uzumaki and I will do anything to get what I want, anything,' _Cinder swore to herself.

Soon after a rather frazzled green haired professor - Professor Oobleck - showed up and escorted the two females to wherever it was they would be fighting.

More names were called, and as the numbers whittled down, Naruto had a sinking feeling in his gut.

_'Please don't be who I think it is, please don't be who I think it is, please don't-'_

Naruto's mantra was interrupted by Glynda's voice, "Neopolitian of team CMNE. Your partner will be...Naruto Uzumaki of team NNPR."

The sound of something hitting a wall drew everyone's attention. The sight of a cursing blond bashing his head into the wall repeatedly had the other students and teachers still left wondering just how sane the leader of team NNPR was.

"...if you're done Mr. Uzumaki both myself and Ms. Neopolitian would like to be going now," Glynda intoned, seemingly unfazed by the oddity of the situation. Then again she was friends with Ozpin so that had to say something of her tolerance of "eccentric" people.

Face still firmly planted in the wall, Naruto only grumbled something unintelligible in response.

* * *

"Well Ms. Nikos, Ms. Fall, you know the rules and such. I will step in if I feel the need to, proceed," Oobleck stated evenly.

Dressed in their battle wear - Cinder in her maroon dress and Pyrrha in her gold and red gear - the two females raised a brow at the nonchalance that their professor just displayed. Shrugging it off, the two stared each other down, Pyrrha grabbing Miló and Akoúo. Her opponent however simply stood there with her arms crossed.

"Um, aren't you gonna bring out your weapon?" the red head asked curiously.

Cinder raised an eyebrow before responding, "I won't be needing it."

Normally Pyrrha didn't much care for things like pride, seeing it as a hindrance. However the casual ease with which her opponent had pretty much declared "I am far better than you and won't even need a weapon to beat you" had her tightening her grip on Miló. While she knew that despite her title, she was far from being invincible, she was also confident enough to know that she was above average in combat. Really, barring her captain, she was probably the strongest of their year and possibly a few years ahead as well.

And she was confident in this, because she knew how much effort she put into training herself to get there, especially in recent weeks with Naruto helping her to improve. In one sentence Cinder had spit on all that hard work and Pyrrha took that as saying all the work she and her closest friend had done was all for naught.

Narrowing her eyes and tightening her stance, Pyrrha bit out, "Very well then. Let's begin."

In a burst of speed the redheaded Greco-Roman themed warrior was sprinting across the field, her gold and red spear shifting into a short sword as she gave a horizontal swing at Cinder. The smaller female casually dodged the sword swing, a mocking smirk on her face.

This only served to further ignite the fire that had been lit in Pyrrha as she attempted to ram Akoúo forcefully into Cinder's face, intent on knocking that smirk off her face. In a show of skill and acrobatics, the amber eyed woman jumped into the air and landed on the shield as Pyrrha pushed it forward, sending Cinder into a backflip. Coming out of her little aerial maneuver, the older of the two was forced to quickly dodge to the side as Miló came sailing straight at her, embedding itself into the earth.

Slightly surprised Cinder realized where the red head had been aiming, _'If I hadn't moved when I did she would have skewered me straight through my abdomen. She is actually trying to harm me...interesting.'_

Pyrrha was meanwhile not exactly happy that she had missed. Despite what some may think, she didn't use her Semblance to help her aim when throwing either of her weapons. No, it was through tireless hours upon hours of practice that had given her the aim of a true marksman.

An aim she was putting to use as she hurled her shield at her opponent with deadly force.

Cinder easily dodged the shield, but was severely unprepared for the fist that came crashing into her abdomen with enough power to rob her lungs of air. Pyrrha may not be the most physically powerful of her teammates, Nora taking that title, but that didn't mean she couldn't pack quite the wallop. The redhead was quick to press her advantage though, quickly reaching for Miló which she attempted to skewer her opponent straight through with.

The split second that Pyrrha had taken to grab her weapon from the ground had given Cinder enough time to recover, her smirk now gone. Dodging to the side of the stab, the amber eyed woman grabbed the shaft of Miló and pulled, bringing her aqua eyed sparring partner into her waiting fist.

Pyrhha took the hit with a grimace and was ready to counter, but was unprepared for the elbow that slammed into her jaw, sending her to the floor. The maroon garbed woman stomped on Miló effectively pinning it to the ground. Gaining back her bearings, the team NNPR member was forced to relinquish her hold on her weapon so she could roll to the side and avoid having Cinder's heels meet her face.

However this meant that she was now weaponless, a fact Cinder was quick to capitalize on as she quickly used her foot to easily toss Miló into her hands. While Pyrhha was the only one capable of switching her weapon into its three different forms, the ravenette was quick to show her proficiency in weapons combat, charging forward with surprising speed for someone in heels and a dress.

Pyrrha was quick to dodge the first stab, but was unable to do so again when her opponent easily twirled the spear and sent the butt of it barreling into her solar plexus. The laws of motion took hold and the redhead was sent tumbling across the grassy field like a pebble skipping across a lake.

Dazed from her impromptu trip, the taller teen rolled to her feet and was just barely able to dodge the follow up slash from her own weapon, coming away with a small cut on her upper right arm. Cinder however was intent on pressing her advantage, swiftly coming around with another stab.

Having gained back some semblance of balance, Pyrrha was quick to roll to the side. Twirling her pilfered javelin around, Cinder lunged forward with yet another attempt at a stab. However unlike the previous attempts, this one looked like it would actually land, the two now being only a few feet apart at best, leaving Professor Oobleck ready to intervene if Pyrrha couldn't counter it.

However both Cinder and Oobleck were surprised when Pyrhha ducked down and grabbed her shield that had been thrown awhile ago. Akoúo in hand, the redhead met the stab head on, sparks flying as the head of Miló met the bronze surface of its partner and was sent careening upwards. Having been unprepared for the sudden change in direction of the weapon she was using, the petite woman lost her footing and sense of balance, allowing her opponent the chance to deliver a devastating kick to her abdomen.

Now it was Cinder's turn to be sent across the field in an unceremonious manner. By the time she had come to a full stop, Pyrrha was above the older woman with Miló now in its rifle form, barrel aimed straight at the raven haired woman's head.

"Yield," was the redhead's curt statement.

While Cinder gave no verbal response, the smirk that grew on her face had Pyrrha tensing in preparation. Even still, she was unprepared for her opponent to sweep her legs out from under her, pulling the trigger in sheer instinct. The bullet whizzed just inches past alabaster cheeks, amber orbs unflinching as she fluidly reversed their position.

Oobleck nodded his head seeing that the match had been finally decided. With her heel grinding into the downed second in command of team NNPR and Miló's barrel now aimed at its owner, the leader of team CMNE had successfully put her opponent into an un-winnable situation.

Not only that, it was clear that they were both coming close to running on fumes.

"Well I'd say that you are the winner of this spar Ms. Fall. Now if you would please give Ms. Nikos her weapon back please?"

Cinder stepped back and allowed Pyrrha to shakily get on her feet before carelessly tossing Miló back to her. Despite her wounds and all, the aqua eyed teen was still easily able to catch her weapon and settle it on her back.

Looking at the two, Oobleck had to internally question if he had allowed the spar to go on for too long. The bruises they would no doubt have wouldn't be just superficial wounds, no they were bound to have a few bruised bones as well as possibly a concussion, especially Pyrrha, having suffered far more blows to the cranium.

Still he was a teacher and had to explain to them the reason for all this, "And what have you learned from this?"

Caught off guard, and still reeling from their spar, neither could properly answer the question. However as the aches in her body became more prominent, Pyrrha came to a realization, "We're more hurt and tired than we would be if we had been allowed to use our Aura."

Oobleck nodded quickly, "Very good Ms. Nikos. Yes, Aura is a magnificent thing that allows us to perform feats some may consider super human. However these feats are not all flashy uses of one's Semblance. Whether consciously or not, we Huntsmen use our Aura to not just empower our body so that we can deliver far stronger strikes, but to also be able to withstand far more damage and still continue fighting. Our bodies also naturally use our Aura to heal us. Nothing astounding like fixing broken bones, but small cuts, bruises, and even aches from overworking are rather easily healed when we give our body the necessary time to rest."

Realizing that their Aura's did indeed speed up their bodies natural healing process, a shared thought popped into their minds, _'How is Naruto able to heal so quickly? Does it have to do with him being a Jinchūriki?'_

Before they could further ponder their blond friend's unnaturally fast healing factor, the green haired professor continued, "Now, I would highly recommend you both do just that. I believe there is still a half hour before your next classes, so take advantage of it. Goodbye."

And liked that the oddball of a teacher was gone, leaving the two alone.

Turning, Pyrrha was ready to offer the proverbial olive branch and even thank her opponent for a good spar, but was surprised to find that Cinder was already waltzing off, not even caring if Pyrrha would be able to make it back to the school. Sighing, the redhead was ready to use Miló as a makeshift walking stick, her body now aching more than ever as the adrenaline wore off, but was deeply surprised when a certain Kitsune appeared via a small flash of flames.

"Kurama?"

The Kitsune merely grunted, "Gaki was worried something like this would happen so he sent me to come get you. Don't know why he didn't send a clone but whatever."

A quick use of his chakra and the Kyūbi went from being an adorable kit to a rather menacing looking fox the size of a horse.

Body throbbing in pain, Pyrrha couldn't argue and was all too happy to throw herself onto the soft fur of her captain's Bijū partner. Her last thoughts before sleep took her were of her closest friend, _'I wonder how Naruto is doing with his spar?'_

* * *

Naruto allowed a grimace to cross his cheeks as Neo's foot once more found its way into his abdomen, cracking yet another of his ribs at the same time.

_'Ok, so maybe I need a bit more practice with this whole not using chakra thing.'_

Twirling Hi no Ishi, the blond parried a strike from his petite opponent, but was caught off guard when she opened her parasol and used the curve of it to direct him and his weapon away. Twirling like a dancer, the diminutive girl buried the top of her foot into Naruto's side.

Despite the power behind the kick, the taller teen managed to hold his ground, though he was beginning to wonder if Neo knew he had a healing factor and was being so brutal as a way to get back at him for what he'd done to her in the club when they first met.

Looking at said ice cream themed girl casually standing across from him with that beyond sweet smile of hers, it was very much so possible.

Feeling his rib snap back into place, again, Naruto stood to his full height, _'Alright, enough of this. Time to stop fooling around. Baa-chan would smack me around if she knew I wasn't doing my hardest to improve here.'_

It was Neo's turn to be caught off guard when her opponent looked to faze out of existence. Any thoughts she had on him using his Semblance or Aura were quickly put to the back of her mind when she felt the air leave her lungs. The laws of motion were perfectly exemplified when the small girl was sent flying through the air by the same hit that had robbed her of her oxygen.

Naruto wasn't done there, following up the attack by appearing below her and grabbing her legs, bringing her to a harsh and jarring stop. Using the momentum from her impromptu flight, the blond savagely plowed her into the ground.

Neo was quick to retaliate, forcibly freeing one of her legs from her opponent's grasp and proceeded to drive the bottom of her foot straight into the Jinchūriki's face with the brutal sound of bone snapping echoing around the vacant field. Using her arms, the smaller teen pushed herself up and plowed her umbrella into the dazed blond's side.

Naruto took the hit without too much issue instead taking the chance to come back at his opponent with a punch, only to have said teen redirect his arm with her parasol. Twirling Hi no Ishi with his other hand, the blond spun around, aiming the top of the staff at Neo's lower half. The petite girl jumped into the air over the sweep and landed with a handstand, Naruto's shoulders serving as her landing place. Like a pendulum she swung back around and shoved both her feet into Naruto's back.

Getting back up, the Jinchūriki attempted to catch Neo off guard with a burst of speed, however she was now prepared for just such a rush, easily twirling out of the way of the first strike. The second strike was directed away by an upward palm thrust to his upper arm. A swing from his shakujo was shoved to the side by a quick opening of her parasol. Neo's follow up was a kick to the face.

The pink/brown haired teen proceeded to cartwheel out of the way as Naruto attempted an axe kick that hit the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Hidden by the small cloud of dust and debris that had been kicked up, the blond shinobi reached to his side and palmed a handful of shuriken in each hand. A casual toss and they were sent singing through the air.

Raising an eyebrow at the change of tactics and choice of weaponry, Neo gave a mental shrug before opening her parasol and casually deflected the throwing stars. She was able to just as easily swing her weapon around and divert the kick aimed at her head. Widening her stance, she swung her upper body underneath the sweeping overhead kick that soon followed. The very agile teen proceeded to spin out of the way of Naruto's punch, ending up back to back with the taller teen.

For a second neither moved, Naruto holding his position with Hi no Ishi held in his right hand while Neo did the same, her parasol lying nonchalantly across her shoulder and crossing into his peripheral vision.

The quick respite was over as soon as it came, Naruto once more going on the offensive as Neo dodged and countered in a flurry of twirls and spins.

Off to the sides, an astonished Glynda could do nothing more than stare. This was not a battle between two first year students, no this was a fight between two highly trained and experienced warriors. It was clear that Neopolitian was far more skilled with her choice of style, but what Naruto lacked in skill and finesse he more than made up for with sheer tenacity and durability. The blonde Deputy Headmistress could only imagine what a battle where they could use their respective Aura and Semblance would be like.

However despite her shock of how skilled these two were, her scruples as a teacher began to creep in as Naruto began using more throwing weapons and Neo began to specifically target areas where her hits would deal far more internal damage in hopes of slowing down the stamina monster that was her sparring partner.

When both drew out the blades they kept hidden within their respective weapons, Glynda knew that if she let it continue for any longer blood - and a lot of it - would be spilled and that was pushing it further than she had originally intended.

"That will be enough you two!" Glynda boomed and just at the right time.

The two combatants froze, Naruto holding Neo's blade in hand as blood dripped from his closed fist while the shorter teen looked to have barely dodged his last strike, a shallow cut just below her ribs now visible thanks to the cut in her corset.

For a moment they stared into the other's eyes, bright blue meeting dark brown and pink. A blink severed the quick stare down, both rising to their full heights and sheathing their respective weapons.

"That was pretty fun. We gotta do it again sometime Neo," Naruto said with a large grin on his face.

In return the silent teen curtsied and offered a cocky smile of her own.

Glynda stomped up to the two, a frown etched onto her face, "Fun? Fun!? If I hadn't stopped you two, you would both no doubt be in the infirmary and out of commission for the next week at least!"

The Jinchūriki raised a brow before he realized why the woman was mad at him, _'Jeez, wonder if she's related to Baa-chan or something.'_

Shaking off that stray thought, Naruto raised his palm, the one that had caught Neo's hidden blade to show that, although there was still a copious amount of blood on it, the wound itself had long since closed up, leaving not even a scar or any hint that there had even been a nasty cut there.

Neopolitan having been told by Cinder that Naruto had some curious abilities, and also having fought him once before, was none too surprised by the sight. Glynda Goodwitch however was astonished. She knew that Aura went a long way to improve not only a Huntsman's durability and even sped up the healing process, but this was beyond even that. A wound that would have normally taken a day or two, even with their Aura and advanced healing technology, had been stitched close in the matter of a few minutes. There wasn't even any scar tissue or anything to suggest that he had just caught a sword with his bare hand.

To further drive the point home, Naruto lifted up his shirt to show the bruises from where Neo had hit him were already clearing up as well, the purple/blue-ish skin shrinking before vanishing completely leaving behind perfectly unmarred and tanned skin.

Glynda could tell that this healing wasn't just skin deep though. Judging by how easily Naruto was still able to move and breathe, she knew that any internal wounds that he had suffered were more than likely already healed or being healed at this very moment as well.

Still astounded by her student's inhuman healing speed, Glynda coughed, "Yes, well, that is still no reason to go so far in what was only supposed to be a simple spar. Not only that, although you may have an abnormal healing speed Mr. Uzumaki, Ms. Neopolitan does not and will probably need some medical care. As punishment you will be taking her there and make sure to not agitate any of her wounds, do I make myself clear?"

Naruto gulped in fear as he was on the receiving end of the elder blonde's stern glare.

'_It's like Iruka-sensei and Baa-chan in one!'_

Not wanting to see if she somehow also had Tsunade's monstrous strength, Naruto bowed on reflex, "Hai sensei!"

Before Glynda could question what she had been called, not being acquainted with other languages, the blond had turned to a grinning Neopolitan who was holding her arms up like a child asking to be carried. The innocent look was ruined by her mocking smile as she did so though.

Naruto sighed before gingerly picking up the smaller teen in a bridal carry and began the slow trek back towards the main building where he knew the infirmary was.

* * *

"Well I wouldn't be worried too much Glynda, all he said was 'Yes, teacher' in a rather respectful manner," a brunette woman spoke casually.

The woman, a rather attractive twenty something, wore thick rimmed glasses and was dressed in a black cardigan sweater over top a plain white blouse. Her hair was held up in a bun with a few stray bangs framing her face. A small amount of black eyeliner highlighted her honey brown eyes. A pair of fitting tan colored pants covered her legs while a casual pair of black flats covered her feet, leaving her ankles bare. Etched into the thighs of her pants and her cardigan was what looked to be an owl's face, big eyes and all.

She was Olive Panathenaia, professor of language and tactics at Beacon. Glynda had asked both her and Ozpin for a conference regarding one Naruto Uzumaki and what he had said to her earlier that day.

Ozpin hummed in thought as he took it in, before he handed the younger woman an innocuous piece of paper.

Scanning down the list, Olive had to raise a brow, "What is this? I've never seen such...well articulated use of a dead language. Even I would be hard pressed to properly pronounce a quarter of these words."

"It is a list of phrases that Mr. Uzumaki has been heard saying before he uses an attack or in casual conversation. Some have been from monitored matches in Glynda's class and others from word of mouth," the Headmaster explained.

Further inspecting the list Olive began reading aloud, "Konohagakure no Sato? Easy enough, The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Katon? Fire Release. Fūton? Wind Release. Fūinjutsu? Sealing Techniques. Hi no Ishi means The Will of Fire. And Jinchūriki...wait...no. Are you sure he said this, exactly as it is?"

Surprised by the sudden outburst, Ozpin raised a brow before nodding, "Yes. Several students and professors have heard him mention this word, increasingly so as of late."

With a grim look on her face, the younger professor spoke, "We need to find out what exactly it is he is referring to then. Jinchūriki directly translated means….Power of the Human Sacrifice."

"Are you positive!?" Glynda exploded, momentarily losing her grasp on her usual strict facade. Even the normally laid back Ozpin was stupefied. He was by no means as knowledgeable with other languages as Professor Panathenaia, but even he knew that many cultures put a heavy emphasis on their words and phrasings. If something was referred to as the power of a human sacrifice, then it was not to be taking lightly.

"Glynda...get Professor Oobleck in here."

Moments later Bartholomew Oobleck found himself seated alongside one of his peers and his boss, neither looking at all as happy or carefree as they usually were.

Olive was the first to speak, "Oobleck, have you heard the phrase 'Power of the Human Sacrifice'?"

The green haired professor thought for a moment before shaking his head in a negative, "I can not say that I have."

"How about, Jinchūriki?" the brunette professor asked as she showed him the written kanji for the word.

It was here that Oobleck excitedly rose to his feet, "Yes! It is a word myself and other archaeologists have encountered numerous times, especially when they are relics from the time before even Grimm."

Ozpin spoke, "And what does it mean? What are they?"

Nodding to himself as he paced, Ooobleck seemingly ignored the question before speaking to himself, "Yes now it makes sense that they would be looked at as human sacrifices. These Jinchūriki were said to be tools of war, young children chosen specifically to house the souls and powers of nine immensely powerful entities known as Bijū."

"The Tailed Beasts? I thought those were nothing but some fairytale people of that age used to scare children, like the boogey man?" Olive spoke up.

Of course she had heard of the Bijū, it was such a prominent part of the culture that even learning the language had her seeing the nine fearsome monsters of destruction being mentioned quite often.

Oobleck was suddenly invading her personal space, "No no no! From what we have gathered these nine ferocious beasts were very much so real and existed on the physical plane, just as you or I do now. However records of them disappear from writting and instead Jinchūriki becomes the term mentioned more often. It would make sense as well, as if they were allowed to roam free, we humans wouldn't have been able to evolve and progress. So, through some ritual it would seem the people of that time 'sacrificed' a child and then turned that child into a weapon of war, the child somehow able to use the powers of the Bijū they housed."

"That's...barbaric!" Glynda spoke out at last. To give up a human life, the life of someone who couldn't even talk and then use them as an instrument of death and destruction, it was inhumane.

"Yes, well from little we know of that time, it was a time where war, death, and strife were commonplace. However I would like to know why I was called here for this," Oobleck asked.

"One of our students, Mr. Uzumaki, has been heard using this word quite often. He is also apparently far more adept at using this supposedly dead language than even Professor Panathenaea," Ozpin explained.

"Yes, well considering the boy's name is derived from the language, it would only make sense that he knew the language and the terms of that day and age, no?"

A proverbial light bulb went off in Olive's head as she suddenly rose from her seat, "That right! His name! It is also from that language! Depending on how he writes it, it means 'Maelstrom Spiral'. But I swear I've heard the name Uzumaki from somewhere."

"Correct! Uzu! There exists an island far from the main coast of Vale! The island is surrounded by massive whirlpools capable of tearing apart even the most armored ship. It is only accessible by air and it is a hotbed for archaeological finds as it is a village seemingly frozen in time. However no one has been able to actually inspect anything except the buildings. What scrolls we can find are somehow closed shut and we have been unable to open them nor remove them from the island itself. There are even some places that remain closed off from us and despite our best efforts, can not be accessed," Oobleck exploded in sheer excitement.

"You don't think that he is somehow linked to the island, do you?" Olive countered.

Retreating into thinking mode, Oobleck pondered aloud, "It is highly likely. From what we can make out, the island and specifically the village was home to a clan that went by the name of Uzumaki after all. It can't be a coincidence that young Naruto shares the same last name."

Finally Ozpin interrupted the two history lovers and their pseudo debate, "I believe that this would be a perfect mission for team NNPR, don't you?"

* * *

"Why is my 'I'm about to be dragged into some convoluted and dangerous situation' sense going off right now?" Naruto asked aloud, garnering raised brows from his team.

Kurama opened a single eye and muttered, "Danger magnet."

* * *

**AN: **Yeah, I know bit of a short chapter and no omake. Couldn't really think of one to at least somewhat relate to the chapter, but this is more to do with it being a set up for next chapter which you can all probably guess what's gonna happen.

If the fight scenes seemed a little off, well A) they were barred from using Aura and B) I'm trying out something new. I'm usually more focused on what the protagonist is doing and this my attempt at branching out of that. It could use some tweaking, I know.

And yes I know promised more romance and didn't have it this chapter, outside of a small mention, but again, short chapter.

Next chapter will feature the characters ACTUALLY fighting so Naruto gets to let loose on some fools and more plot progression and romance progression, I SWEAR THIS.

Virtual cookie to those who can guess who/what Olive Panathaeia is based off. My hint will be that her and Pyrrha's origins are linked. Really there is like a shit ton of clues already include in the description I gave for her.

Also anyone have any sort of inkling on what Neo's Semblance actually is? From the few things she's done I wanna say it's something to do with illusions (whole glass shattering thing in Painting the Town Red) or teleportation (when she runs from Raven after her fight with Yang).

On that topic, before you all ask "Why is Neo so cuddly/close/physical with Naruto?" Clearly it bothers him. And she wants to get back at him in any way she can for what he did to her a few chapters ago. There, go nuts.

Reminder that I posted a new cover on my YouTube. Check it, por favor?

Have a motherfucking great day/night you beautiful fucks.

Until next chapter,

PEACE

OUT


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** One chapter. One chapter is all it took for a majority of you to start waving the Naru x Neo flag. Well you know what?...ITS TOO LATE. I ASKED BEFORE AND YOU WERE ALL LIKE "Nuu that'll never work!" SO STEW IN IT. REAP WHAT YOU HAVE SOWN! REAP IT!

On a serious note though, I can't blame yall. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have a rather glaring weakness for short girls with dyed hair. But, I can't see Naruto and Neo being anything more than cutesy uncomfortable brother and tsundere/needy sister kinda deal. Haha, that should be a spin off or something.

So I thought most would get it, but apparently it was clear to everyone and their mothers that Olive Panathenaia is based off the Greco/Roman goddess of war and knowledge, Athena/Minerva. So cookies for everyone!

Also little kudos to BlackMagic622, you were literally the only person to correctly guess the song at the beginning of last chapter's AN was Alesana's The Puppeteer off their latest (and possibly best) album, Confessions. So sad they ended the Annabel trilogy, but what a way to go. I find myself tempted to do a pseudo crossover and use Naruto characters to write a short fic as an ode to the AMAZING story telling from the trilogy. Food for thought.

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**Q: **What's Cinder's big plan at the moment?

**A: **it's true that I've had her almost drop the whole master plan thing in favor of recruiting Naruto, but we'll be seeing a return to the master puppeteer thing she does as she still does have plans to further. Aside from that I can't say much else.

**Q: **What style of story will this be? Many arcs? One single arc?

**A: **This is actually one of the most important questions I've gotten. The problem with me doing this fic is that RWBY is barely gonna be coming out with Volume 3, and there are still A LOT of questions that need answers. As much as I deviate from its canon, I don't want to entirely write my own RWBY-verse as some have taken to doing. I don't know Cinder's ultimate plan. I don't know what Yang's mom is up to. Who, if anybody, will die? Will there be a betrayal? Things like that can only be answered by RT which will take quite some time. In that regard I will be writing a few minor arcs to better build on the crossover world I've created here to give myself some cushion for when questions like that are answered by RT.

**Q: **Will Naruto be finding other things from the Naruto-verse and use them? Kusanagi? Zabuza's sword?

**A: **No. I've said it before, this Naruto is a little bit more mature and intelligent with a better arsenal (courtesy of Kurama and Kage Bunshin training) and will be learning other jutsu and how to properly fight like a Huntsman (there's a huge emphasis on the use of recoil and other forces of motion to EVERYONE'S style), but he won't be gaining any sort of cheatsie doodle techniques. Really being Kurama's Jinchūriki in world without other shinobi, or Fūinjutsu users is already pretty hax.

Those out of the way, everyone's general thought process seems to be that Neo's Semblance is teleportation with the whole light effects and illusions being a result of that like Ruby's petals or Yang's turning into a super saiyan. Seems highly probable so I'll stick with that.

Ok, I know some of you probably tune this out already, but I put ALOT of work into this cover and playing it one one go without fucking up was pretty hard. Editing the videos and mixing the music was also a fucking task. But its probably one of the highest quality covers I've done thus far. I would be over the fucking moon if you went and watched it and shared it. It is a cover of You Me At Six's songs The Consequence into Underdog. Please, please, go watch it and leave some comments.

That all said, here's what you came for, the story. Enjoy!

* * *

Team NNPR woke up to the sight of their captain sticking to the ceiling above his bed with his "thinking face" on. Yang had joked that it looked like he was constipated and even Pyrrha had to admit she wasn't too far off. However them waking up to him being on the ceiling had become somewhat of a normal occurrence after Kurama had told Naruto that since he still hadn't reached his body's full maturity, his chakra reserves were still growing and if he continued to shirk his chakra control exercises in favor of working with Pyrrha to get better at wielding Hi no Ishi then he'd be back to having the poor chakra control he had during his Genin days.

Hearing that, Naruto was quick to throw himself back into chakra control exercises, wanting to avoid going back to that at all costs. The first time the others had seen him literally walk on walls, Nora had lost her mind and tried as hard as she could to do the same, to no avail. This had provoked Ren into questioning that if Naruto was from the past, why then did the people of his time have such different abilities from the Huntsmen of today.

Seeing no harm in it, Naruto had explained that he and Kurama had theorized that at some point after the fall of the shinobi era, people had their chakra split into two different energies. The physical manifested itself as Aura and the spiritual aspect gave birth to what they called Semblances. Due to the split nature, while it was possible for them to mimic some of the feats of a shinobi - enhancing one's body with their Aura, using seals, and such - they were unable to use jutsu or perform chakra control exercises like wall walking or kunai balancing as such feats require the combination of chakra's two aspects.

This didn't stop Ren and Pyrrha from trying to do just that, attempting to somehow combine their Semblance and Aura to see if it was possible to somehow use a mockery of chakra. It hadn't resulted in much aside from fatigue, though Pyrrha had discovered that she could use her control of Polarity to mimic wall walking seeing as how most buildings had quite a generous amount of various metals used in their construction.

Aside from that, it had been a rather routine week for team NNPR thus far. Their personal training as individuals and as a unit had come to a halt as they were now much more focused on working with their strengths. Naruto was busy working with his chakra control and having Pyrrha help him in better using Hi no Ishi while said redhead was working on increasing the range of her Semblance and pushing herself to use it for longer and more tasking acts, regularly using it for everyday things to aid in that endeavor.

Ren was working with Naruto on his speed and agility. While Naruto's specialty wasn't really being fast and agile, his shinobi training meant he was leagues better than some veteran Huntsman. After all it took some unbelievable levels of reflexes, speed, balance, and coordination to be able to use tree hopping as a form of travel so easily. Nora was just as active and was surprisingly quite serious about improving, spending quite some time either with Naruto and his clones working on reflexes or by herself, pushing the limits of her already unnatural strength.

When we they weren't training though, they were being normal teenagers - going to classes, doing homework, and hanging out with their friends in teams RWBY, CFVY, and CMNE. Of course this also meant that Naruto was subject to Yang and Coco's teasing, the odd stir of emotions whenever Blake was close, Neo's "affections", and Cinder's odd attitude. While he knew said woman was intent on swaying him to join her, she had an odd way of going about it. If he didn't know any better he'd think she was trying to seduce him.

Then of course there was Pyrrha who he was beginning to act just as oddly. Anytime they touched or even brushed shoulders, her face would instantly turn red and she'd start to stutter. It was almost like she was channeling the spirit of Hinata or something. Of course anytime this happened, Kurama would shake his head and call him a dumbass for no reason.

Despite it still being an hour or so before their day actually began, it looked to be shaping up just like any of those days. That was until there was a knock on their door. Allowing his control to slip, Naruto casually fell from the ceiling and landed in a relaxed position on his bed as Ren went to answer the door. Standing in the doorway was Glynda, someone everyone in the room was surprised to see.

Pushing up her glasses, the blonde woman spoke calmly, "It's good to see you all up so early. However I came here as the Headmaster has sent for you four, so if you would follow me."

Already dressed in their school uniforms, the four teens shrugged as one before following the deputy headmistress out.

After a few moments of silence, Glynda spoke up, "I'm guessing you're all wondering why you're being called so early to see Ozpin?"

Arms folded behind his head as he followed behind his fellow blonde, Naruto shook his head, "Not really. If he needs us all present I'm assuming it's, because he's gonna tell us about our next mission."

Without breaking stride or even showing her surprise that Naruto had so easily guessed the purpose of this little meeting, Glynda responded, "Indeed. However this mission will be a little different than your last one. I'll leave the specifics for Ozpin to explain, but there will probably be little, if any, combat involved."

Naruto pouted. He had been looking forward to actually trying out some of the stuff Pyrrha had been working with him on. Maybe he wasn't as much of a danger magnet as Kurama was making him out to be?

* * *

"You will be escorting Professors Oobleck and Panathenaia on an archaeological expedition to the island of Uzugakure no Sato."

As the sentenced rolled off Ozpin's tongue, Naruto's entire mental thought process was taken over by him swearing up a storm as the loud echoing laughter of Kurama roared through their joint connection.

Hearing the name of island, the room's occupants consisting of Ozpin, Glynda, the aforementioned professors, and his team, all turned their heads - some wanting to see his reaction and his team wondering what his link to the island was.

"Any questions?" Ozpin asked after a few minutes of silence.

Stiffly shaking his head, Naruto replied with a clipped tone, "When will we be heading out?"

Unfazed by the curt reply, Ozpin responded, "This Saturday. How long the expedition lasts will rely entirely on what is found, so be prepared for a week at most."

Naruto nodded his head before bowing to the professors and made his way out of the office, his mind a flurry with thoughts and questions.

Once the four teens were out of the room, Olive commented, "I hope I wasn't the only one who saw it."

Taking a sip of coffee, the silver haired headmaster shook his head in a negative, "No. Young Naruto does indeed know something about the island. However what it is he knows and his connection to it, bar it being the homeland of his ancestors of millennia ago, remains to be seen."

Sighing at the casual dismissal of what could very well be a groundbreaking find for the historical community, the youngest of the present teachers sighed, "Well I'll be off then. I need to begin preparing for the trip ahead as well. Might have to do some brushing up on the language as well."

With a wave, the brunette teacher left the office. With a curt nod, Oobleck followed his colleague, leaving Ozpin and Glynda alone. The former was seemingly preoccupied by the view that his office afforded him while the latter, already used to the eccentricities of her friend and boss, crossed her arms and remained quiet.

"Ozpin...do you really think it was a good idea to put those four on a team together?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.

Not bothering to tear his gaze away from the view, the man replied, "And what do you mean by that? Team NNPR has shown itself time and again to be among the most talented of our students here, both individually and as a unit."

"I know that, but I can't help but worry for them, more so for Nikos, Lie Ren, and Valkyrie."

Raising a brow, Ozpin slightly turned his head to look at his longtime friend and assistant, "Oh? Do you feel that Mr. Uzumaki is somehow a detriment to them?"

Matching his gaze, Glynda shook her head, "No, if anything he has pushed them to improve far faster than we have seen of any freshman group. However the cost of that is his affinity for dangerous situations. The night at the docks, their first mission, and now this? Not to mention the incident at that club. While we can't say for sure, you and I both know he had something to do with it."

Ozpin took a moment, taking a sip from his ever present coffee cup before deciding to speak, "I agree. From the moment I laid eyes on him at the battle exam, I knew that he was a magnet for such situations. However was there not a certain young Huntress whom you had to personally step in to help when she found herself wrapped up in one of Roman Torchwick's thefts? Was there also not another blonde who visited that same club looking for information only to wind up in a massive all out brawl? Are those same two not also related to several influential and powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses, all hailed as prodigies of their day? And are those same two sisters not on a team with the heiress to the Schnee dynasty alongside a Faunus in hiding who is also a former White Fang member?"

Glynda sighed, seeing the point Ozpin was making. True Naruto was drawn to situations most veteran Huntsmen wouldn't be involved with and was also surrounded by more mysteries and questions than they could even come up with, but he was also no different than each of the four girls who made up team RWBY, each having a tragic backstory and each with their own mental, physical, and emotional scars.

For a moment, Glynda had to wonder if her own team and those teams she graduated alongside were just as danger prone.

* * *

"So when were you gonna tell us you were loaded Foxy? I mean, owning an island? What next, you got a yacht too?" Yang joked.

For a moment Naruto wondered if he should tell his fellow blonde that, had he wanted to, he could've bought out a chunk of Hi no Kuni _(The Land of Fire)_ and still had enough leftover to pay off the entirety of Tsunade's gambling debt. And that wasn't taking into account the large sum of money he could get if he sold the necklace of the Shodaime that Tsunade had given to him when they met.

Being Hokage wasn't a high paying job, but neither of his parents were dumb and had done quite a bit of investing in several businesses. Many of them went on to do well enough and so the inheritance they had left him was a hefty sum. Then there was the literal fortune that Jiraiya had left him by naming him his sole heir. Loathe as he was to admit it, the Icha Icha series was one of the highest selling written series, ever.

Still none of that really equated to much today, seeing as how the vaults and such that held the funds were more than likely miles below the surface or completely destroyed, victims to the ravages of time and nature.

Besides that he had never been one to worry all that much about money. Growing up a poor orphan meant that you weren't exactly allowed to be a materialistic person. Even when he had come into money, he hardly spent it, far more focused on other things like the whole group of insanely powerful criminal shinobi who wanted the Bijū in his gut thing.

Coming back to the present, Naruto took in the faces of the seven people around him. Seeing as his team and those of team RWBY knew he was from the past, he felt it was ok to let them know what his team's next mission was. Finding out there was an island that had not only survived from before even he was born and was the home of his clan was pretty surprising for everyone.

Weiss was the one to start the questions, "Wait, I thought you were from that leaf village place?"

Naruto sighed, "I am from Konoha. My mom wasn't though. She, like all Uzumaki, was from Uzu no Kuni - the Land of Whirlpools - where my clan had their own hidden village, Uzushiogakure no Sato, or The Village Hidden by the Whirling Tides."

Blake raised another question they all wanted to know, "How'd she end up in Konoha then?"

"Konoha and Uzushio were pretty close, mostly because the Uzumaki were distant cousins to one of Konoha's two founding clans, the Senju. It also helps that the heiress of our clan went on to marry the First, further uniting the Senju and Uzumaki. She was also Kurama's first Jinchūriki. Even though we Uzumaki were known for being able to live incredibly long lives, she eventually got to that age. Seeing as how Kurama was too powerful to seal into an object or any plain kid like the other Bijū, they needed another Uzumaki to be the new host and that's where my mom came in," Naruto explained.

The others "oh'd" at the explanation. Ruby asked the only logical question left to ask, "What happened to it?"

Naruto grimaced. True he had personally never gotten the chance to visit his clan's homeland, but from what he had read in his mother's diary - a gift from Tsunade - and from what little Kurama knew of them, the Uzumaki put family and loved ones above all else, a trait he had clearly inherited. As such, the story of how almost the entirety of his clan was destroyed was rather depressing.

"Shortly after my mom came to Konoha, three of the Big Five - the five strongest hidden villages - agreed that Uzushio and the Uzumaki, with our unmatched affinity to Fūinjutsu and insane longevity, were too much of a threat to leave alone. So the Hidden Mist, Cloud, and Stone joined forces and invaded Uzu. Uzushio put up a fight and managed to take out or critically wound the other village's Kages. But in the end Uzushio fell."

"That's...horrid! Why take out an entire village and its people!? Just because you were scared of what they could become!?" Yang exploded.

It was clear that she wasn't the only one angered though, Weiss wearing a disgusted sneer while the others showed their own displeasure on their face.

In turn Naruto shrugged, "It was the Shinobi era. From what Ero-Sennin told me, wars had been started over far stupider reasons. Not that many people even knew why either of the Two Great Shinobi World Wars were even started in the first place."

It took a moment for the others to come to grips with the harsh reality that had been the far distant past. Meanwhile Naruto gathered his own thoughts. It had been horrifyingly shocking for him to learn about what many saw as the true purpose of shinobi. They weren't heroes. They weren't the knights in shining armor that came to rescue the princess like many of he and his friends had thought back in the academy days.

No, Shinobi were killers, they were thieves, liars, cheats, and backstabbers - for the right price of course.

However this was not true for Huntsmen. Huntsmen were protectors, those who refused to sit back and instead took up arms to keep the people of Remnant safe from the things that went bump in the night. It didn't matter if it were Grimm or human, those that wished to harm those under their protection would need to go through those brave men and women who dedicated their lives to stopping them.

In a way the dreams of peace and unity that Jiraiya, his father, and Nagato had so dearly wished to see come true had, sort of. True there was still unrest, especially when concerned with Faunus, but the world was now far more united than what had ever been possible during the shinobi era. And there were strides, small ones sure, to even put a stop to the prejudice against Faunus.

When the others had finally accepted the kind of world that Naruto had lived in, Ren posed a question that should have been rather obvious to ask, "If all the other villages and places from that time are gone now, then how has your family's island stood standing? It was invaded before even you were born and it's still around today? How is that possible?"

Naruto shrugged, "I honestly don't know. This is the first I'm hearing of it too. My best guess is that either the village or probably the whole island is covered in seals that would keep even nature at bay."

"You think Professor Ozpin knows about you?" Ruby asked.

Naruto scratched his head before leaning back in his chair, "Hard to say. I know him and Glynda have been suspicious of me ever since initiation. He probably knows I'm the only one who could unlock all the stuff that's sealed up which is why he's sending us." Stretching out more, the blond closed his eyes, "I doubt he knows or even thinks I'm from the past though. And even if he knew I doubt he'd care. He is pretty odd himself."

The others sweat dropped. Sure Ozpin was pretty eccentric, but Naruto was acting as if his being from thousands of years ago wasn't all that surprising. Then again he was from a time where walking on water was an apparently normal occurrence.

"Going on a mission without us? Look at you, all grown up now," came a familiar voice.

Naruto just grinned as the members of team CFVY came around. Maybe having a meeting where he talked about being a shinobi from thousands of years ago in a public place like the library wasn't the smartest of calls.

"If I didn't know any better Coco, I'd think you were stalking me," the blond quipped.

Naruto's cocky smirk was quickly replaced by a blush as the older teen wrapped her arms around his neck, "No, just doing my job as an upperclassmen and keeping an eye out for my cute little underclassmen."

The others laughed as Naruto began to blush and sputter at the intimate contact. Well, most were laughing at the troubles of their friend. Pyrrha and Blake weren't exactly happy to see someone else so brazenly flirting with the object of their affections.

Attempting, and failing, to hide her giggles, Velvet placed a hand on her captain's shoulder, "Ok Coco, we have to get ready for our own mission remember?"

With her usual smirk in place, Coco released her hold on the younger teen and ruffled his hair, "Be careful out there Whiskers."

Grumbling at having his hair tousled like a child, Naruto waved a goodbye to the older teens, wishing them luck on their own mission. Rising out of his seat and stretching to get any kinks out, Naruto spoke, "We should probably get ready for our mission too. I need to stop by the AH shop and pick up Hi no Ishi."

That caught everyone's attention. Not even his team was aware that Naruto was without his staff.

"Is that why you haven't been using it in out spars?" Pyrrha questioned.

Naruto chuckles nervously, "Right I totally forgot to tell you guys I left Hi no Ishi with 'em so they could work on it for me."

Being the weapons fanatic that she was, Ruby was quick to get up in the blond's face, "Work? What are they doing to it? I thought it was just a staff with a hidden blade? Can I go with you to see it?"

Laughing as the younger teen shot off a million questions in the span of a few seconds, Naruto just shook his head, "Sorry Red, but I want it to be surprise." Seeing the scythe wielder go from starry eyed to pouting in the blink of an eye, the half blood Uzumaki added, "How 'bout after we get back from our mission we have a little spar? Team RWBY versus Team NNPR?"

Everyone perked up at that. It was widely known throughout the school that while Team NNPR was being touted as the strongest team of freshmens, Team RWBY was not far behind. Having different time slots for their battle class meant they had never actually seen which of them was the better, a question on the minds of many students and professors alike.

Yang rose to her feet with a cocky grin and punched her fists together, "Oh I am so game Foxy."

Weiss shrugged, "Why not. Sounds like it could actually be a good way to see which of us is better."

Blake copied her teammate and shrugged, "Sure."

Ruby seeing that her whole team was game nodded, "Well we're in!"

Turning to his team, Naruto waited to see their responses.

Ren shrugged indifferently, "It would be a good way to see how our training is going."

Nora seemed to be deep in thought, garnering raised brows from everyone not expecting the usually impulsive teen to actually take the time, "Hmm. What if we win?"

Now that caused everyone to perk up. The orange haired teen had raised a rather good point. Sure they could have the spar just as a measuring bar and a way to have some friendly bonding, but if they wagered something, it made it all the more enticing.

Grinning Yang nodded, "I like the way you think Nora!"

Naruto shared his fellow blond's excitement, "Sounds good to me! But we gotta agree on the terms and who gets what."

Nodding, each team turned and began to discuss what they would want if they won their little sparring match. Of course Team RWBY was quick to agree on what they wanted to be their reward. Team NNPR took a little longer seeing as neither Ren nor Pyrrha were really all that invested in winning or gambling, content to take the spar at face value. Nora, despite being the one who had brought up the idea of wagering something for the match, kept her own reward simple. Naruto couldn't come up with anything, not really needing much so he decided to go the same route as Nora...sort of.

"Well, we've decided that if we win, we want Naruto to help us train for a week," Ruby declared with a bright smile.

Raising a brow at the request, Naruto shrugged. They were his friends after all and if he could help them grow stronger then he wouldn't really mind. It wasn't like he could really teach them much outside of physical conditioning either. Since they lacked chakra they couldn't learn any jutsu and he wasn't exactly a weapons master, especially knowing just how complex the weapons the girls of Team RWBY wielded. Seriously, a scythe that could also fire off rounds with enough force to punch through steel? Even he thought it was a bit of overkill. And that wasn't even mentioning Blake's own weapon that he knew could transform into a handful of different weapons.

"Alright sounds good to me, BUT when we win, Nora wants a bottle of syrup from each of you and I want Ruby's help with Hi no Ishi," Naruto rebuttaled.

That caused brows, even the ones on his team, to rise. Seeing their questioning looks, the blond Jinchūriki explained, "What? Nora said she's almost out..."

The others sweat dropped while Weiss exclaimed, "We weren't wondering about that you idiot! We're wondering why you want Ruby's help!"

Crossing his arms, Naruto huffed, "Well you don't have to be so mean about it." Seeing Weiss barely restraining herself from attempting to strangle him brought a smirk to his face before he explained, "Well Red seems to be a bit of a um...'weapon enthusiast' and I figured she could help me get a better grip with Hi no Ishi."

Said silver eyed teen blushed in embarrassment as her friend brought up her rather over the top love of all things that went boom and were pointy. Still she stuck out her hand, "Deal!"

Naruto shook his fellow captain's hand, sealing the deal.

* * *

As the cool air of the sea blew in across the docks, ruffling blond locks, Naruto tried to reign in the flurry of emotions that had been growing steadily stronger as this day grew closer. Happiness, excitement, anxiousness, and curiosity all mingled as one single thought echoed in his mind.

_'I'm finally gonna get to see Kaa-san's home...my clan's home.'_

Naruto was pulled from his own reverie when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he couldn't help but smile as he stared into the emerald green eyes of his red haired teammate. He found himself speechless though as he took the time to actually take in the view.

With the sun barely having risen an hour or so ago, the sea breeze gently blowing her vibrant red tresses, and the small but genuinely caring smile on her face, Pyrhha Nikos looked stunning. Sure he knew damn well that his teammate and friend was one of, if not the, most attractive girl in Vale - something many magazines and tabloids made sure to point out - but more often than not, her looks were the furthest thing from his mind. She was his friend and partner first and foremost.

"How're you feeling Naruto?" She asked softly.

Sighing and raking a hand through his hair, Naruto grinned, "Excited. Nervous."

Allowing a small laugh to escape her lips, Pyrrha spoke, "Well remember, I'll be with you the whole way through."

Offering a genuine smile of gratitude, the blond teen nodded, "Thanks Pyrrha-chan."

Pyrrha blushed at Naruto's way of addressing her. Being a little curious about his various nicknames for everyone, she had decided to do a little research to find out what the "chan" honorific meant. Needless to say she couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.

"Don't forget us!" Nora shouted as she popped up to Naruto's left side.

"Nora! I told you to leave them alone!" Ren scolded as he joined the rest of his team.

Laughing at the childhood friends Naruto threw his hands behind his head and grinned, "Well, we got a mission to do so let's go!"

"Glad to see you're all ready to go," came a voice from behind them.

Turning the team stared at the two professors who would be accompanying them to Uzu.

Olive had ditched her usual outfit in favor of something more suited to excursions. A black long sleeve trench coat reached down to mid thigh with a simple dark blue shirt bearing her owl eyed symbol on the navel underneath it. A pair of form fitting worn grey almost black pants reached to just above her ankles with a belt of simple blue cloth wrapped around her waist, held closed with a fist sized silver medal not unlike Pyrrha's except her's once more had her owl eyes on it. A simple pair black flats covered her feet.

What caught their attention more than her change in clothing though was the shield that rested on her back. It was rather small, taking up only a small portion of the small of her back with what looked to be the head of a gorgon etched into the center of it, glaring angrily at all who stared into it.

"Yes, I do believe our transport will be here shortly as well," their other professor commented.

Oobleck had also ditched his usual dress clothes in favor of a tan trench coat that reached his calves, a lighter tan shirt underneath that, and a pair of dark olive green paints, an explorer's hat covering his wild green locks. Unlike the female professor, he had no visible weapon on him, just a rather bulky backpack and a thermos.

As if on command, the Bullhead and its pilot came into view and landed a couple yards away. Stepping out of the large aerial transport, a gruff looking make waves, "Just need to fuel up real quick and we'll be on our way. Feel free to get comfortable as the island is pretty far out of the way."

With a resolute gleam to his eyes, Naruto lead the way to the carrier.

* * *

When the pilot had said Uzugakure was out of the way, he meant it. Despite having left at six in the morning, they seemed no closer to Uzu, the sun reaching the apex of its journey across the sky some hours ago and all anybody had seen for the past half hour was a seemingly endless amount of water. Ren had taken to simply enjoying the view, Nora snoozing away and drooling on his shoulder. Professor Panathenaia was reading a book quietly while Professor Oobleck was fiddling with something in his backpack.

Kurama, the lazy fox that he was, was snoozing away on his container's lap while Naruto's shoulder served as a pillow for Pyrrha who had fallen asleep at some point during the trip. The blond was rereading his mother's diary in hopes that it would give him some idea for what he should be prepared for.

However those who were awake rose to attention when the voice of their pilot came from the cockpit, "The island should be coming into view soon. Due to whatever defenses these people set up, I can't actually land in the village so we'll touch down on the outskirts."

Naruto and Ren roused their sleeping teammate's from their naps, the blond mentally conversing with his partner, _'Kurama, how well protected was Uzu?'_

Not even opening an eye, the Bijū replied, _'From what little I know from being in Mito and your mother, the Uzumaki were extremely paranoid and made sure to cover near every inch of the village in protective seals. For all intents and purposes the actual village is protected by a bubble, stopping attacks from both the air and underground. Some of the lower tails would have had trouble getting in.'_

A few minutes later and the group were stretching their limbs, enjoying the fact they were on solid ground yet again.

Naruto took the time to enjoy the scenery of his ancestral home. Although they had landed in a rather large clearing, it was clear to see that either nature had reclaimed the island or the Uzumaki had never bothered cultivating the land in the first place. Flat lands with lush grass was all one could see, the noises of various critters scurrying around filling the air. Up ahead, the walls of Uzushio stood proudly, monolithic in size and intimidating to the others. For Naruto though, it felt like home.

The minute he stepped on the island he could feel his chakra thrum in time with that of the island's. Without even trying he knew that Sennin Mōdo was a thought away. It was comforting. As much as he enjoyed Beacon and Vale, the city life and distance from nature was slightly unsettling. Even the most technologically advanced cities in his day were never so far removed from nature.

Taking a deep breath, the blond enjoyed the rush of fresh air that flowed into his lungs.

"Well I got enough fuel for the ride back and that's about it, so when we leave, we ain't coming back for some time," the pilot announced.

Everyone made some sound or gesture of having heard the man when Oobleck stepped up, "The wall that surrounds the village is not simply for show. Many archaeologists have tried and failed to find a hole in it or the invisible wall that protects the actual village. As such we will be making the trek to the entrance of the village that lays on the other side of where we are now."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that. He knew that every shinobi village, even the hyper militaristic Kumo, had several different entrances. The main gates were for foreign dignitaries, merchants, and the like, but each shinobi was told of its village's other "secret" entrances should they ever need to use them.

"Actually, I think I might be able to find us another way, so we don't have to walk to the opposite side of the island," Naruto spoke.

_'So Ozpin was right. This trip is gonna be interesting, I just know it,' _Olive thought to herself.

"Very well then Mr. Uzumaki, lead the way!"

Turning to his team, Naruto went into mission mode, "Pyrhha, with me up front. Ren, Nora, bring up the rear. Professors, stay behind Pyrrha."

That said, the blond captain reached for his scroll and in a poof smoke held Hi no Ishi in his hand. Seeing that, the rest of his team reached for their own weapons and took up their positions.

As they began the trek towards the wall in the distance, Naruto was on high alert, sending chakra to his ears, nose, and eyes to heighten his senses even further. Despite the village having been left in ruins millennia ago, it was still a shinobi village and he doubted any of the expeditions found all of the traps that no doubt covered the island.

The island seemed intent on disproving this, the group of six having their walk undeterred.

_'Remember, they were invaded, so no doubt most of the traps and defenses meant to keep out such a force were used up that night. At this point the only real defenses left are the wall and whatever seals are still active,' _Kurama chimed in.

Judging by the fact that Oobleck was now investigating the wall without anything harming him, Naruto was inclined to agree.

"So, if I may ask, how do you plan on getting us in from here?" Olive asked.

Everyone turned to Naruto with curious stares. To them they could see no chinks in the structure or signs of a secret passageway which they had assumed was what Naruto was going to be looking for.

Of course it wouldn't exactly be secret if they could find it. This was Uzushio, home to the Uzumaki clan, it would not be that simple...for them.

He hadn't instantly taken up Fūinjutsu, but after Jiraiya's death and being told who his parents were, he had taken up the art during his sage training with the toads on Mt. Myōboku. Pa, Ma, and even Kurama - still being in his asshole phase - admitted that he took to the art like any full blooded Uzumaki, though the later had admitted it grudgingly and with much cursing and name calling.

Placing a palm on the wall, Naruto sent out a pulse of chakra. Feeling a slight 'ping' from just to his right, the half blood Uzumaki found what he was looking for. Moving his hand over just slightly, the others watched with wide eyes as the blond bit into his thumb hard enough to draw blood. Before they could raise any questions, he swiped the bloody digit across the wall in a seemingly random spot.

When nothing happened for a few seconds, Professor Oobleck spoke up, "Right, then we shall resume our trek around the perimeter of the wall, let's be-"

The oddball professor was cut off when a single intricate seal appeared where Naruto had left his blood, glowing a faint blue. The others stared in awe as several more of the unintelligible scribbles - to them - appeared in a circle around it and began to glow the same luminescent blue.

Following that, a rectangular section of the wall faded away, like it had never even existed in the first place. Slack jawed, the others could only stare blankly into the darkness that awaited them.

"What was that!?" Olive exclaimed in shock.

"Fūinjutsu. The Uzumaki clan was famous for their mastery of the art of seals and it's also the reason why this island is still standing. It and the village are practically covered in them," Naruto explained.

Oobleck was busy jotting down notes on a notepad, "I see so the etchings that covered the walls and such are actually safety mechanisms?"

Before Naruto could respond, everyone's eyes were once more drawn to the entrance of the passage, the earth shaking steps of something growing louder and more prominent with each passing second.

Stepping out from the dark tunnel and into the light of the open was what could only be described as a golem. It's massive hulking form looked to stand a few inches taller than both Naruto and Pyrrha's six foot stature and was made of a smooth black stone of some sort. It bore no memorable features, looking like it was hewn from a single piece of stone. However there was one thing that put most of them at ease. Etched into its burly chest in a deep red was the spiral of the Uzumaki clan.

Despite the surprise appearance of the guardian, Oobleck was still burning through pages in his notepad, "Interesting! No other expedition has had any encounter with a guardian golem before! Only a half hour and already this trip is turning out to be well of knowledge and information."

"Please tell me you know how to...disable this thing Mr. Uzumaki," Professor Panathenaia spoke.

"Uhh...I'm an Uzumaki?"

Everyone sweat dropped in unison.

"You've got to be kidding me," Olive face palmed.

"My mom's diary never said anything about golems alright! It could need a password or it might just need my blood like the seal! I don't know!" Naruto defended.

Kurama hopped down from his usual perch and took up a spot on Pyrrha's shoulders, _'I'm gonna laugh when this blows up in your face gaki.'_

Naruto turned back and childishly stuck his tongue out at the Bijū before turning around and staring at the faceless golem. Seeing that it wasn't going to move from its current position, the blond shrugged and once more bit into his thumb before smearing some blood across the chest of the stone guardian. Raising a brow when nothing happened the blond turned to his teammates and professors, "See! No big deal!"

However as Naruto began to step around the golem, before anyone could blink, the stone guardian brought up one of its massive limbs and buried it into an unsuspecting Naruto's side. The Jinchūriki was hit with enough force that he was sent hurtling yards away, eventually coming to a stop amidst a cloud of dirt and debris.

"Naruto!" Pyrrha cried out in alarm.

_'Hahahahahaha! Oh kami that was great!' _Kurama barked out, rolling around the ground holding his furry sides.

Naruto's attempt at going around the golem seemed to have kicked it into action, the guardian taking lumbering steps towards the rest of them.

Nora was the first to jump into action, with a battle cry she aimed a swing of her hammer at the golem. Whatever speed it had displayed before did not apparently translate into dodging attacks and so the behemoth took a full on hit from Magnahild...and did not budge. Nora and the others stared wide eyed as the stone thing did not move a single centimeter nor were there any cracks in its stone skin.

Seeing the golem turn its head to look at the shocked Nora, Ren put as much Aura as he could into his legs and burst into a dead sprint, managing to pluck his friend out of harm's way just before Nora could join Naruto.

* * *

As the rest of his team tried to figure out how to even damage the stone guardian, said blond was currently laying on his back moaning in pain.

_'Dear Kami, that thing hits even harder than Sakura-chan. Wonder if this is how Ero-Sennin felt every time Baa-chan smacked him around for perving?'_

Feeling his chakra already flowing towards his not doubt shattered ribs and whatever other wounds he had sustained, Naruto let out another groan of pain.

* * *

"What is that thing made of? I even used my Semblance!" Nora cried out, genuinely shocked.

Ren shook his head and began to pepper the golem with rounds from his twin SMG's, "I don't know, but we better figure out how to stop it and quick."

When the lumbering behemoth stepped out of the cloud of dust that had been kicked up due to Ren's hail of bullets, completely unscathed, the raven haired teen silently cursed. He knew his bullets weren't exactly known for their penetrating power, but he had hoped to at least be able to scratch the thing.

Pyrrha took her chance and slipped a cartridge of fire type Dust into Miló. Aiming down her sights, the red headed unloaded the full clip directly into the golem. Even with the added punch from the Dust, a combination that had even managed to give the ancient Deathstalker from their initiation pause, the golem kept moving, not deterred in the slightest.

Before either her or Nora and Ren could try anything else, Olive and Oobleck stepped up, "That's enough. I think it's time we step in."

With her piece said, the brunette professor grabbed her shield, holding it in her left hand. The small thing began to shift, growing larger as plates seemed to come from the center and move outwards, addIng to the overall circumference of it. When the shield was a little bigger than her torso, Olive reached behind it and pulled out a small metallic bar. The bar however began to extend, forming into a spear far longer than she was tall.

Oobleck likewise took up a battle stance, his thermos transforming into what seemed to be part cudgel part canon, if the hole at the top was anything to go by.

"I agree. Even we scholars need to dirty our hands from time to time after all," Oobleck stated.

In a burst of speed, Olive was off, Oobleck not far behind. In seconds they closed the gap between them and the golem, the brunette professor ramming her shield into golem before duck under a swing. The spastic professor followed suit and and slammed his own weapon into the golem, to no avail.

Jumping back, Olive reached into her coat and pulled out a row of chain gun ammo, a deep brown color signifying their elemental alignment. She slid the belt of bullets into the back of her shield and pulled the trigger behind it, the mouth of the Medusa on the front of the shield opening to let out a hail of bullets.

Oobleck was at her side, firing off blazing balls of fire from his thermos.

Soon the golem was engulfed in a cloud of flames of gun fire.

Not wanting to sit idly by, the three members of team NNPR took up their own weapons and added to the veritable storm of bullets.

Doubting that any of it would put the behemoth down, Pyrhha called out, "Nora! Gravity!"

Knowing what that meant, the bubbly girl saluted then shifted Magnahild back into its hammer form before making a mad dash towards a crouching Pyrrha. Using Akoúo as a platform, Nora leapt into the air and stood on Magnahild like a scooter, firing off a round to gain even more height.

"Ren! Pincer!" Came the redhead's following orders.

The raven haired teen nodded, already pumping Aura into his arms.

As Nora began her descent back down, a faint pink glow surrounding Magnhild, both Pyrrha and Ren rushed the golem from opposite sides. Seeing what the three were planning, Olive and Oobleck decided to really block in the stone guardian, coming from the other two sides.

As one, the five collided with the golem. Nora's hit plowing into its head with enough power to push it into the ground. Ren aimed a palm strike at its back, pumping his Aura through it. Pyrrha met the force of Ren's push with her own, using her Semblance to push Akoúo. Olive copied the younger teen's strategy and pushed her own shield into the golem, firing rounds off at the same time to push forward. Oobleck likewise used the momentum from his own shots to push forward.

With as much force as was being exerted on it from all sides, the golem should have very well imploded. However it did not, merely shunting everyone off it with a single swipe of its mighty arms and stepping out of the slight crater it had been pushed into.

"How is this thing still standing!? There's no way it should have been able to survive that!" Olive shouted in frustration.

As the golem took another step forward, a shout from the distance rang out, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu _(Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet)!"_

Turning, the others could only watch in awe as a massive serpentine beast made of water roared ferociously, eyes glowing in anger. The beast of legend and myth proceeded to slam into the golem, actually managing to push it back and cutting deep trenches into the ground around it, such was the pressure it was exerting.

The assault didn't end there though, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu _(Water Release: Great Waterfall)_!"

The water that had been used to create the water dragon and had soaked the ground surged back to life, climbing higher and higher. What was once a beast was now a several yards high wall of water. The imposing structure stood tall for a second before cascading down, like a body of water that had been held back by a dam.

Pyrrha heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing a familiar mop of hair rushing to join them, "Naruto! You're ok!"

Grinning, said blond gave her a thumbs up, "It's gonna take a lot more than that to put me down!"

Olive interrupted, "And as devastating as your own attacks were, it's gonna take a lot more to put that thing down as well."

Turning, they all saw a now soaking wet golem begin to resume its move forward, seemingly untouched while the landscape around it had been drastically altered, pristine grass and earth now muddied and devastated as if hit by a natural disaster.

"Why don't we just go around it?" Nora asked aloud.

In all fairness it was a rather poignant question. The stone being was obviously incapable of traveling great distances at any sort of rapid pace while they were all quite nimble on their feet.

"I'd rather not spend the rest of our stay here worried about this thing finding us and trying to kill us. Best to put it down now," Naruto replied.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Olive snarker back, rather irritated that a slow moving stone thing had withstood her hits. She wasn't vain, but she was a trained Huntress who had put down her fair share of Grimm and had earned herself a reputation as a genius tactician and equally capable fighter. Yet here this thing was, still intent on seeing them all buried six feet under and not even scratched in the slightest.

Cracking a cocky grin, Naruto stretched his right hand out, palm facing up, "Leave that to me."

Both Oobleck and Olive watched in curiosity as wisps of blue energy began to circle in the palm of Naruto's hand, picking up speed and density. Before they could even register what was happening, there was a spinning ball of energy sitting in the teens hand.

His teammates, having seen him use a far more powerful version of this, were curious to see how much damage the smaller scale version was capable of.

Leaping at the slow moving golem, Naruto stretched out his hand and called out, "Rasengan!"

Naruto's cocky smirk soon fell off though as he noticed one of his favorite attacks was barely scratching the golem. When the golem swung at him, the blond was prepared this time and quickly jumped away.

_'What the hell!? This thing just took a full on Rasengan like it was nothing!' _

_'Considering that your clan no doubt made this thing, they probably put chakra draining seals on it somewhere. The only thing that can stop it is either someone who knows the password or complete obliteration,' _Kurama commented.

"Guys, I'm gonna need you to back up. The only way we're gonna stop this thing is if we completely destroy it and I have a few jutsu that can do it, but I need you all far away from here to do them."

Having nothing but confidence in his captain and friend, Ren nodded and grabbed Nora, pulling her along with him.

"Do not do anything rash Mr. Uzumaki. We still need you active after this," Oobleck said casually before walking away.

Olive huffed, "Men, always have to have some macho display."

She joined her fellow professor in walking away soon after.

Pyrhha clenched her fist, before walking straight up to Naruto, staring him down in the eyes with her bright green eyes. Naruto was slightly surprised by the intensity and raw emotion that swirled in his teammates emerald eyes. As he opened his mouth to question what she was doing, he found himself unable to speak.

"I believe in you."

The following kiss on the cheek put all cognitive thought on hold.

Before he could even make a sound the red head was off to join the others some distance away.

"Your girl problems aside, it's been some time since you've used this, ne?" Kurama mocked.

Naruto shook his head, "Shut up, Baka-Kitsune."

Closing his eyes, Naruto shut out the outside world. He pushed aside the sounds of the lumbering steps of the golem. Shut out the presence of the others. Instead he focused on the smell of the dirt, the feel of the wind as it kissed him. He felt the chakra of the critters that scurried about on the island, the chakra that thrummed in the trees and plants that dotted his ancestral home. He felt it all and allowed the chakra of nature into his body, mingling with his own reserves and amplifying them.

What seemed to be a handful of minutes to him was only a second, if that, as he opened his eyes once more. Gone were the bright sapphires, replaced by the slit pupils and honey colored eyes of a fox.

Raising a brow, Naruto took note in the difference between his current Sage Mode, and that of the one when he was still back in his own time.

"Oi, Kurama, how come I have fox eyes instead of toad ones?"

Raising a brow, the Bijū shrugged - somehow, "The toads of Mt. Myōboku probably don't exist anymore and so neither does your connection to them. Because of that, your Sage form took up the features of the only other animal like entity you're aligned to, me."

Naruto took it in stride, "Sounds good to me." Rotating his neck, the teen stretched, getting used to the feeling of being in Sage Mode after not having used it in sometime, "I gotta do this more often, almost forgot how good it feels!"

Raising his palm above his head, he began to gather the necessary chakra to form one of the most devastating jutsu in his arsenal, being in Sage Mode making it all that much easier to perform the necessary shape and nature manipulation.

"Sorry buddy, I hate to do this to a family heirloom, but you got to go. Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"

* * *

From their vantage point atop a small hill, the group of three teens and two professors could only stare as what looked to be a miniature nuclear warhead exploded where Naruto and the golem had been. A dome of pure white energy encased the entire area, blinding them to what was going on inside it.

Seconds later the five of them had to throw up their arms in front of their faces as the winds slammed into them, howling in their ears as if it were a beast of some sort.

The three other members of team NNPR had of course seen the attack before, but it had detonated miles out at sea, far from them. Being only a mile or more away, they could now get a true understanding of the destruction their captain was capable of.

For the two professors, this was unbelievable. Sure they had seen some powerful individuals, both human and Grimm, but to see someone so young wielding such power was incredible.

"This is...unreal!" Olive exclaimed as the winds finally slowed.

Smiling, Pyrrha shook her head, "No, it's just Naruto."

Seeing the dome begin to collapse, the teen broke into a dead sprint, making her way back towards her friend.

"Wait for us!" Nora called out as she forcibly dragged Ren along with her.

"Nora!"

Shaking her head, Olive whistled as the amount of destruction that had been brought on by a single human was finally revealed, "Well, if that didn't completely destroy that thing, I don't know what will. C'mon Oobleck! Don't need these kids hurting themselves or anything." Turning she found the spot where her fellow professor and Hunstman had been was now vacant. Blinking she spotted said green haired man not far behind the three teens of team NNPR.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

(**Omake #2: **The Moe Wars)

It was dark times at Beacon Academy. No one could really recall how it had started or why, but all they knew was that with each passing minute the death toll was steadily climbing. Tears and blood were being shed in equal amounts. No one was safe. No one.

"Pretty please?" A certain red cloaked young Huntress to be asked her blond friend and fellow captain, silver/grey eyes shining with unshed tears as her lower lip trembled.

"OH DEAR GOD ITS TOO ADORABLE! ARGH!"

"MIKE!? MIKE!? MIKE! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU!?"

Naruto shivered as he stared into the face of what could only be adorable given physical form. Feeling a tug on the sleeve of his jacket, he turned to see Neo, hands clasped together as she mimicked Ruby.

"MY EYES!"

"CASSY!? NOT YOU TOO! WHEN WILL THIS END!? SOMEONE, JUST STOP THIS MADNESS!"

As the wails of those poor unfortunate souls unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of the pure and unadulterated cuteness that was Ruby and Neo vying for the attention of one Naruto Uzumaki, at the same time the members of team RWBY, NNPR, and CMNE were off to the sides laughing at the misfortune of their shinobi friend. Yang and Nora were crying tears while Ren was openly chuckling. Pyrrha was laughing behind her hand and even Emerald and Mercury were enjoying seeing Naruto suffer.

"Alright! Fine! I give! I'll buy the damn strawberries!" Naruto shouted as tears streamed down his face.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered.

Neo was not happy with this development and showed it by pouting. Tugging on his sleeve again, Neo stared straight into Naruto's eyes and began to sniffle. Sniffle! A small tear forming at the corner of her now pink eyes.

"TELL MY MOM I LOVE HER!"

"DAMNIT JENKINS! STAY WITH ME!"

"Ok ok! I'll buy your cake!"

"But-but-but, my strawberries!"

"KAMI SAVE ME!"

* * *

**AN: **...soo...I MAY have procrastinated...a bit.

In totally non related news and not at all the reason why this chapter is a day late, I finally unlocked the skill for the Master Sword in Hyrule Warriors! FYI to do this you need to acquire each of the three different weapon tiers for all of the in game characters, which is only possible by pretty much beating the entire Adventure Map and getting almost nothing but A ranks and THEN slaughtering 25,000 poor hapless monsters to actually unlock the skill. But I did it...finally!

The skill? Totally worth it.

Back to this, I know it took awhile for it to actually get to the whole point of this little arc, but I'm the type to just write whatever comes to me and works. Pretty much a "Let the story write itself" approach. This is good and bad. Good, cuz you all get a product that is entirely mine, but bad cuz I depend heavily on that muse. If I try and force it, it turns out like shite.

That said, yes this will be an arc, covering the next two chapters or so. There's a lot of stuff I'm going to have happen while they're in Uzu exploring. Some of it selectively for Naruto, some it also to build the other characters and flesh em out. As such it won't be all that plot heavy, more for character development.

Yes this also means Pyrrha and Naruto getting even closer, as foreshadowed by that little peck on the cheek.

Despite it taking awhile for me to actually get them to Uzu, there's quite a bit of meat in this chapter. A lot of stuff mentioned and such. Like I said, I'm optimistic that you're all intelligent human beings capable of reading and analyzing at a high school level, at least so I'm not gonna smash your face into stuff going, "LOOK AT THIS SHIT. THIS SHIT HERE!? YEAH, KINDA IMPORTANT, DONT ASK ME STUPID QUESTIONS ABOUT IT LATER. ITS RIGHT FUCKING HERE IN THE STORY."

I'd like to reiterate that the cover I've posted on YouTube took a lot of time and effort in regard to both the playing and editing of it and I would be much appreciative if you guys went and watched it. Even better if you share it with your friends. I'm trying to get a little more professional with it, and just like here where your comments and taking the time to read this give me reason to do just that, your views and comments on these videos means a lot.

Hopefully within the next month or so I should have even better quality stuff to post.

Thank you all for the support on this story thus far. I appreciate all your reviews and feedback, I really do. 859 reviews. That's fucking amazing. Here's hoping we hit that 1000 mark within the next few chapters!

I hope you all have fucking magical as shit day. Go unicorn hunting. Go spank the monkey. Read this story. Read other great stories. Do what you gotta, and do what you love.

Until the next chapter you lovely bastards!

PEACE


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: **Two things I've found myself addicted to within the last week or so: NateWantsToBattle's cover of Together, We Ride (from Fire Emblem), his original track Hold On To You (based on KH 358/2, and the animu Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? The last one is like everything I could have asked for in an anime. A great pace - no slow beginnings or lulls - fucking hilarious comedies, the art styles are great and used well, the characters are all rather memorable, and the dialogue is on point. A huge plus is the protagonist. He has his bumbling moments, but he still improves and grows stronger. Sure he's got that cliché "I'm after a girl far stronger than me" trope, but it's not mentioned or used to stupid extents. He doesn't let his affection for her override the fact that there are plenty of other attractive girls who also want his attention.

The fanservice ain't exactly bad either haha. All in all it was a great short series. Hopefully it gets a second season.

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**C: **Will Ironwood try and use Naruto?/Hope Ironwood doesn't mess with Naruto!

**A: **I've seen this a handful of times from various people and I admit that Ironwood is definitely the "Anything and everything for the greater good!" type, evidenced by his willingness to throw Ozpin (an apparently old friend) under the bus towards the end of Volume 2. But I can guarantee you that by the time we eventually get to that and the Vytal Festival, you'll probably already have a good idea of what will happen.

**C: **KEEP NEO CUTE AND ADORABLE. WE DEMAND MOAR

**A: **You guys got it! This is something I can get behind 100%!

Every other review pretty much centered around speculating what Naruto and the others would find in Uzu.

Soooo...here you go!

* * *

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Water Release: Great Waterfall, and Spiralling Sphere. Phrasing is perfect, diction is on point, and annunciation was perfect. So my question for you Mr. Uzumaki is this: how are you so easily able to fluently speak a language archaeologists and historians, who have studied it for decades, struggle to even read?" Professor Panathenaia questioned.

Sitting amidst the devastation Naruto had unleashed only a scant few minutes ago to destroy the stone golem that had previously barred their entrance into Uzu, the two professors gazed at the blond heatedly while his teammates wondered how he would handle this. They knew full well that outside of them and team RWBY, he wasn't exactly keen on going around and telling everyone that he was pretty much a living relic from a time long gone.

For Naruto, well he supposed the story that he had originally told to his friends would suffice. The only reason he had told them the truth was, because he felt they deserved to know it after everything he had dragged them through. He owed no such thing to the two professors much less anybody else.

"Back in my home village of Konoha, it was the language we all spoke. For us it wasn't a dead language," Naruto casually responded.

Olive narrowed her eyes hearing his response. Sure he had answered her question, but he had done so without actually revealing anything, dodging the question almost entirely. However she knew that trying to press the matter would only end up with them on tense terms, something that would be detrimental to the mission.

Nodding, the brunette glanced at the sky before speaking, "Well, we've got two choices: set up camp here and head through the tunnel there tomorrow morning or try and make it through tonight and hopefully find a spot to camp in the village itself."

Sparing a glance at the sky to see it painted in the waning light of a sun that had begun its trek back down below the horizon, Naruto nodded, "I say we set up camp here. If we wait till tomorrow it'll just give us more time to explore the village."

Nora let out a sigh of relief before collapsing on her back, eyes already closed, "Night night time!"

Shaking her head with a bemused smile on her face, Pyrrha spoke up, "Not yet Nora, we still have to set up our actual camp."

A frustrated whine was her only response.

Seeing as how Naruto's jutsu had pretty much excavated out a flat area devoid of grass, or much of anything really, the group elected to set up camp on the spot. The two professors shrugged off their own rather hefty backpacks, and began to unfurl their camping supplies. However their eyes widened comically when each member of team NNPR unfurled a scroll and laid their hands on it. Four simultaneous puffs of smoke later and there were now four tents perfectly set up.

Nora was quick to scramble into her own pink and white tent, snores coming from it a few seconds later. Naruto tossed most of his weapons along with his jacket into the tent before sitting down and setting up a small grill. Pyrrha copied the actions of her captain, coming back out of her tent with her hair undone and the bronze armored pieces of her outfit missing. Ren did the same, taking up a spot to his captain's left and assuming a meditative position as Pyrrha joined them.

Looking up, Naruto sweat dropped upon seeing the owlishly blinking professors, "Uh...I have two more if you want?" The two simply nod, catching the tossed scrolls with curious eyes. Seeing that neither knew what to do with the items, Naruto spoke up, "Unfurl it and lay your hands on the symbols then push some of your Aura into the scroll. Doesn't need a lot."

After two puffs of smoke, the professors found themselves seated opposite the three still conscious members of team NNPR as the blond captain of the team cooked up a small number of fish. After the long day they just had, no one complained about the rather simple meal.

After the meal, Ren and the professors ventured into their own tents to catch up on some much needed rest. Having sealed away the dishes and grill, Naruto peacefully gazed up at the star filled night sky, Pyrrha happily joining him. For a few minutes, neither said anything, more than content and comfortable with the other to not feel the need for words.

Curiosity eventually got the better of her though, Pyrrha turning to stare into the almost ethereal sapphires of her captain, "How does it feel?"

Tearing his gaze away from the view, Naruto replied with a genuine smile, "Great. I feel like...I'm home. I can't really say exactly how or why, but just being here makes me feel like I'm stronger, like I could do anything. Even accessing Sage Mode is easy!"

While she was overjoyed to hear the happiness that saturated the voice of her friend, Pyrrha couldn't resist the questions that leapt into her mind, always eager to learn more about Naruto, "What's Sage Mode?"

"It's a technique that was taught to me by the toads, the same ones my godfather learned it from," the blond replied.

Of course without the context, the mental image of a younger Naruto being taught by croaking toads sent Pyrrha into a fit of giggles, "Toads?"

Realizing that his partner probably thought he meant regular toads, Naruto joined her in the laughter, "No, not normal toads!" Getting out his last few chuckles, Naruto continued, "During the Shinobi Era there was these things called Summoning Contracts. Each contract was for a certain group of animals like the toads, dogs, and even slugs. But these animals weren't exactly normal. They were all capable of speech and using chakra, like any human being."

"So everybody had these contracts and could summons these animals?"

Shaking his head, the Jinchūriki responded, "No. As far as I know most of the Summon Clans had a specific test they gave to people. If you didn't pass the test you weren't allowed to summon any member of that clan." Seeing Pyrrha nodding that she understood, he continued, "Well my godfather had signed a contract with the clan of toads who lived on Mt. Myobōku. At a certain point, if the toads deemed you ready they would have you undergo Sage training. My godfather did it and so did I, though the toads told me I was better at it than that old perv."

"How could they tell who was better at it?" Pyrrha asked curiously, feeling like she was a young girl back in a classroom. Though this topic was far more interesting than anything they had taught at Sanctum.

"Well Sage Mode is a sort of...state you can only enter when you've learned how to draw out the chakra of Nature and balance it with your own. If you allow it to overtake you, you turn to stone. The more balance there is between you and Nature, the harder it is to tell that you're in Sage Mode. Because he was aligned with the toads, anytime he used it, my godfather would grow webs on his hands and feet and look more like a big toad. When I do it, the only change is usually to my eyes," Naruto lectured.

Intrigued by it all, Pyrrha asked the inevitable, "Can I see it?"

Shrugging, Naruto closed his eyes and went through the mental process of feeling out for the Nature Chakra that practically saturated the very air. Being so abundant, it took all of a second or so before he opened his eyes, revealing the slit honey colored eyes of his now fox aligned Sage Mode.

Having spent so much time around him, Pyrrha knew that Naruto's eyes were highly expressive. Normally they were bright pools of oceanic blue, emitting a warmth that spoke of his natural inclination to being kind and open with almost everyone. Then there was that cold glacial blue that only appeared when Naruto was being serious. Of course when the blond was being especially mischievous, they took on an almost electric quality, sparking with his ideas no doubt.

The eyes she was now looking into, while almost completely different from what she was used to, were still as expressive as ever. The almost amber coloring gave off waves and waves of warmth and gentle serenity accompanied by a depth that spoke of countless ages of wisdom that no one below the age of a hundred should be capable of. However just below the surface of that gentle kindness was power in awe inspiring levels, the power to decimate whole landscapes and reshape them on a mere whim. It was the power of a raging storm as it poured down rain and lightning, the power of fierce winds as they cut into the earth, the power of the sea as it slammed into a coast and reshaped it, the power of Nature.

Staring into the slit eyes of her captain, Pyrrha understood why it was called Sage Mode. Naruto had welcomed Nature into his body and in thanks for giving it a physical avatar to show its might, Nature was giving him the rights to use its strength and wisdom as he saw fit.

When the honey coloring receded and gave way to the sapphire blues she knew so well, Pyrrha couldn't help herself, "What does Sage Mode do for you?"

"It boosts my physical strength to some pretty insane levels, I'm faster, more durable, and can analyze things at a faster rate. It also makes it a lot easier to control my chakra and shape it," Naruto casually replied.

Satisfied with the answer, Pyrrha smiled, "It's a little unfair how you just keep getting stronger like this. How are me, Nora, and Ren supposed to catch up?"

Laughing at the somewhat teasing tone, Naruto grinned, "You should've seen some of the stuff others could do. Tsunade-baa could take a guys head off with a flick of her finger. In her prime she was able to shatter mountains with a punch! Then there was Kaka-sensei who was known to have copied over a thousand jutsu. My friend Gaara could control sand like nothing!"

Hearing the reminiscent tone in his voice as her friend recalled some of the powerful ninja he had encountered and befriended, Pyrrha could only smile warmly. Wanting to know more about the people who had so impacted her captain and helped to mould him into the person he was today, she inquired, "Tsunade? Who was she?"

Naruto's grin fell, only to be replaced with a genuine smile of love.

As the minutes passed and the animals of the night went about their lives, the two teens enjoyed the other's company, Naruto regaling his red haired teammate and friend with tales of his adventures as a shinobi. How he had turned a psychotic mass murderer Jinchūriki into his brother in all but blood. How he had turned a drunkard and gambling addicted Sannin lost in the sorrows of past failings into not only the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, but a mother figure as well. The forming of Team Seven and the bumpy road the three preteens had endured, only for it to all fall apart.

And of course, one of, if not the, most pivotal moment of his shinobi career, the moment that had shaped and given birth to his personal creed, his nindo. The meeting with Haku, a young woman who shared a past of suffering and loneliness that mirrored his own, and the words she had left him with.

Watery blue eyes stared into the night sky as a rueful smile crossed his face, "She told me that a person only becomes truly strong when they have something, someone to protect. After that I stopped wanting to be Hokage for the recognition. I wanted to be Hokage so I could protect my precious people."

No words were spoken for a moment, Naruto lost in his own memories while Pyrrha took it all in. And for the second time in a day, Pyrrha did something that surprised even the Most Surprising Shinobi - the red haired Huntress to be wrapped her arms around his midriff and laid her head on his shoulder. Not expecting the action, the blond shinobi instantly stiffened, his whiskered cheeks heating up in a fierce blush, not daring to look down.

Unknown to him, the young woman who was the cause for his highly nervous state was blushing equally as hard and feeling just as awkward. Despite all that though, Pyrrha felt as if she needed to do this. She had seen the glances Blake shot Naruto when she thought no one was looking. She saw the way Cinder was all but offering herself up to him. Of course there was also Yang and Coco, but she was rather confident that both weren't romantically interested in the blond, only enjoying the rather funny reactions Naruto had to their flirting.

Some would claim that realizing that you had a crush on or were in love with someone would be some sort of great epiphany. A sort of life changing event. Or at least somewhat of a memorable moment. Especially considering the circumstances of the situation. For the red haired teen it was more of a "duh!" moment.

Being so distanced from the rest of her peers, Pyrrha didn't really have the chance to come into puberty and adjust to those blossoming feelings one felt around their sexual preference. She was instead busy training and growing stronger and becoming a sort of celebrity.

At some point she had all but accepted the fact that she would be separate from most of her peers, placed on a pedestal due to her fame and skill. The day of initiation for Beacon arrived and it seemed it would be more of the same, Weiss Schnee, heiress to one of the richest and most powerful families in Remnant asking her to be her partner.

That notion was tossed on its head though when she heard someone talking after having landed in the Emerald Forest. She was surprised when her reflexes, honed from years of training and combat, had her barely bringing up her shield in time to block a thrown knife. Stumbling upon the cheery blond, whom she had earlier noted to be quite attractive and funny, she was further surprised when - instead of adoration or even recognition - said teen instead regarded her like a complete stranger. He didn't ask for her autograph. He didn't stare at her in a way that made her feel naked and uncomfortable. He simply treated her like a friendly stranger.

From there it was a surprising series of events that lead her to discovering that he was also quite strong and a rather capable leader. Forming team NNPR with him and two others who treated her like anyone else only added to her happiness. She had friends now. But, Naruto would have a special place above the others. He was her partner. He was the first person she confided her worries and insecurities in. And now she was realizing he was her first real crush, possibly even first love.

Naruto, found himself deeply confused, not just by Pyrrha's actions as of late, but the actions of Blake and even Cinder. He knew his strengths and weaknesses and one of said weak points was his inability to really comprehend the feelings others had towards him. His childhood had only shown him hatred and disgust. Making friends and gaining those he deemed his precious people had begun to open his eyes to the fact that there was a wide gambit of emotions that people were capable of, but the more complex - to him - feelings like lust, affection, and anything that wasn't friendship, familial love, or indifference were all new concepts to him.

As such he couldn't really understand the actions of the aforementioned females. They couldn't possibly like him...like that, could they? He knew that he wasn't exactly ugly or even ill mannered enough to scare girls away. Heck Jiraiya, Tsunade, and even Shizune would often offhandedly comment that should he want to, finding women to help him repopulate the Uzumaki clan wouldn't be all that difficult. But there was just no way someone as beautiful, talented, and coveted like Pyrrha could see him in that way right? She was a celebrity with many people, male and female, clamoring over themselves to even have a shot with her - he should know, he had seen the fan mail.

Blake, while not of celebrity status, was just as attractive in her own way and he had seen a number of students at Beacon throwing glances in her direction every so often.

Cinder was...well there was no way around it, she was downright sexy. The sway in her shapely hips, her piercing amber eyes, and that husky lilt to her voice.

Point was that all three females were more than capable of having their pick of the crop, so to speak. In Naruto's mind, the thought that such catches would have an interest in being anything more than friends was alien.

_'Kami, you are such a dumbass sometimes.'_

Naruto's eye twitched, hearing the exasperation that dripped from his partner's voice. Before he could form some kind of rebuttal, a cough caught his and Pyrrha's attention. As one they turned their heads to see the head of Professor Panathenaea peeking out from her tent.

"As cute and romantic as this whole thing is, need I remind you that we do still have a mission to accomplish? Please get some sleep so we may be properly prepared for the amount of travel we have ahead of us."

With her peace said, the Professor retreated back into her tent, leaving two heavily blushing teens. Separating themselves, they refused to make any sort of eye contact. Falling back on one of his nervous tics - running the back of his head - Naruto awkwardly chuckled, "Professor's right. We better get some rest."

Pyrrha said nothing, far too embarrassed to actually form a coherent sentence, settling on a simple nod.

Without a word more, the two made for their respective tents, their thoughts a whirlwind and their emotions just as flurried.

* * *

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, bathing the world in its warmth and light, an anxious Naruto stared into the darkened tunnel, his team and the two professors standing behind him. Oobleck seemed just as excited about the coming venture, though for hugely different reasons.

Of course it was Professor Panathenaea who asked the obvious, "I don't think any of us here are a Faunus, so I hope you have a plan for us to get through this dark tunnel without bumping into every wall."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto didn't bother with a verbal reply, instead placing his hand on one of the walls. A quick pulse of chakra, a bloodied finger, and a swipe later, the tunnel was lit up with glowing red seals in the shape of the Uzumaki swirl.

"If I may ask, why do you bite your finger and use your blood to activate these seals?" Oobleck asked.

It was clear from the practiced ease and casual use of seals that the blond teen was at least far more knowledgeable in the art than any other person currently alive. While the spastic teacher was also interested in the why of that, he was far more interested in the how of the seals. This whole mission had brought out his inner explorer and historian, igniting his love of all things ancient and historical.

"Blood seals. They can be keyed to a certain person, a certain group of people, or anyone of a certain family. In this case, these seals - and probably all of the seals in the village - need the blood of an Uzumaki to unlock them," Naruto replied casually.

Seeing that there would be no more questions, Naruto ventured into the tunnel, the others following him. Seeing how paranoid the clan had been about even the entrance into the tunnel, the group all expected the tunnel itself to be full of traps or be some sort of winding maze that would leave them lost and hungry.

They were highly surprised when the emerged out into the light of day without running into any sort of traps or maze. However any relief they may have had was washed away when they laid eyes on the actual village...what was left of it.

Buildings lay in rubble, vines and plant life consuming some structures, shrines barren and dilapidated. Looking down, Naruto could see the skeletons of his clansmen in a similar state, the flesh picked clean by the scavengers that now called the island home.

He had thought he would be prepared for the sight. He had read the first entries of his mother's diary, detailing the cruel fate that had met their clan. Tsunade had explained to him many times the unfortunate fate of the once proud Uzumaki. Looking at it, the destruction of his clan's home and the skeletons of his family had Naruto shaking, fists clenched so tightly that blood began to drip from his hands.

Rage. Disgust. It was all he could feel knowing that an army comprised of shinobi from Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri had marched onto this land and desecrated it, slaughtering his family because of petty fear. It wasn't for revenge. It wasn't for a mission. It was shameless murder out of jealousy, greed, and insecurity.

Standing at his side, Pyrrha was both terrified and worried when she saw Naruto's eyes begin to bleed into a dark crimson, his whisker marks growing darker and more noticeable, a vicious snarl crossing his face. For a moment she had a hard time reconciling the person before her and the goofy blond she held dear to her.

Both Ren and Nora had flashbacks to their first mission as the feeling of that suffocating miasmic power began to grow. The image of a cackling Kurama as he incinerated a decades old Grimm in a blazing pyre leaping to the forefront of their minds. Fear began to grip their hearts as the phantom of that memory turned its piercing red eyes on them, staring into their souls.

Even the two experienced Professors began to shake imperceptibly, fingers slowly inching towards their weapons as the feeling of hate began to coat them, choking them like it was a physical force.

Before he could give into the hatred that burned like a black flame, a gentle hand on his shoulder drew his attention. Turning he stared into green emeralds, swimming with equal parts fear and worry. It was the former emotion that caused him to quickly pull back on the chakra he had been unconsciously releasing. The four subsequent sighs of relief weighed even heavier on him.

Unable to bear the gaze of his closest friend, Naruto turned away. Uncaring of the eyes watching him, the Jinchūriki took a few steps forward and brought his hands up into a familiar seal. A puff of smoke later revealed a few dozen clones of the blond.

"Search the village for the skeletons of our clan and start working on giving them a proper burial. If you find any skeletons tied to a hitae-ate from Kumo, Kiri, or Iwa...gather them elsewhere but don't bury them, they'll be dealt with later."

Their commands issued, the clones leapt off to begin their mission.

Not wanting to face his friends and teammates, Naruto spoke up, keeping his back to them, "That big tower over there is probably the Clan Head's tower, I'll start my search there. Feel free to start wherever you want. If you need something unlocked, find one of my clones."

Without a word more, the blond was gone in a burst of speed.

Pyrhha made to follow him, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so. Turning back, angry that someone would stop her from trying to help her friend, the redhead defiantly stared Panathenaea down.

Shaking her head, the professor spoke, "Don't. I know you're worried about him, but right now he needs to be left alone with his thoughts. Not only is he feeling angry about the state of his clan's ancestral home, but he's also ashamed of the way he reacted in front of us. Seeing you will only make that worse."

The others were highly surprised when Pyrrha yanked her shoulder out of the older woman's grasp and glared at her, a look no one would have thought the emerald eyed teen to be capable of, "No! He doesn't need to be alone! He's been alone most of his life and being alone now isn't what he needs. He needs friends! He needs people who care about him! You do what you want but I'm going to go find him."

Far too shocked by the usually calm and gentle redhead's outburst, no one moved fast enough to stop her when she broke into a dead sprint, making for the only standing structure.

Oobleck was the first to regain his sense and turned to address the two other members of team NNPR, "What did she mean? I, like most others, find myself in the dark about Mr. Uzumaki's past."

Ren shook his head, "We only know bits and pieces. The only people who Naruto's actually spoken to about his past are Pyrrha and Blake from team RWBY and they are very tight lipped about what he's told them."

"Actually...," came the quiet whisper of a certain hammer wielder. The other three turned to see Nora fidgeting with her hands and looking surprisingly shy, "It was by accident I promise! But I was looking for Naruto so he could help me with some training when I overheard him and Pyrrha talking. I got curious and hid. Pyrrha asked him something about someone named Jiraiya and he told her something like he was the father he never had."

That was all that needed to be said as the others finally connected the dots. It was Olive who said what they had all just now realized, "He was an orphan." Sighing, the brunette professor continued, "For now let's hope Ms. Nikos can help him and leave them be. We'll start heading towards the tower ourselves so we can regroup. If you see anything interesting pick it up and if we bump into one of his...clones, we'll have it help us. If it's a room or building, make a note of it so we can find it later."

As the two professors lead the march forward, Nora timidly asked, "Was it wrong Ren?"

Smiling at the childlike innocence of his long time friend, the raven haired teen replied, "No. But we should let Naruto know."

Nodding with a smile, the two followed after their teachers.

* * *

Lungs burning as they furiously pumped air through her body, Pyrrha had only one person on her mind. Fear gripped her heart as she pushed her body to move faster, to quickly get to the person who had been at the center of her thoughts as of late. The person who was the first to treat her like she was just a normal person, who didn't hold her at arm's length or try and use her for her fame.

She partially blamed herself for this. He had told her and the others what he was, why he had been hunted by a group of frighteningly powerful terrorists. He had told her how it felt, the power that could so easily turn him into a slathering beast intent on destroying whatever and whoever he deemed as a threat. He had confessed to her the horror he felt when he lost control of that power and brought harm to those close to him. And yet she had reacted to it like some powerless little girl, not the skilled and talented warrior she had trained herself to be and by doing so she had acted like those that had shunned him and left him to cry as a child, unloved and unwanted.

Shame, fear, and sadness swirled around her as the red head burst through the doors of large tower that sat imposingly in the middle of the ruined village. Emerald green eyes watered as she bounded up the winding staircase, frantically trying to find her wayward partner.

Coming to the top floor where two large oaken doors bearing the Uzumaki crest, Pyrrha rushed through the double doors, finding herself in a large office with scrolls and seals covering the walls. Sitting at the desk that sat in the middle of the room was the blond she had been searching for, an ornate headband grasped in his hands.

The sound of the large doors slamming open catching his attention, Naruto was surprised when he looked up to see a teary eyed Pyrrha standing in the doorway. Before he could even make a sound, the young woman was already leaping across the room to grapple him in a tight hug, sending them both to the floor.

Taken aback by the sudden action, Naruto could do nothing but return the hug as his friend held on to him like he was her only lifeline. After a few minutes of nothing but silence, Naruto decided to ask the obvious, "What's going on Pyrrha-chan?"

The redhead wiped away the few tears that had managed to fall, "I was worried about you."

In response, Naruto quirked a brow, "Worried about me? Why?"

Fisting the blond's black shirt, Pyrrha replied, "I saw the look in your eyes after...that. I saw how you looked and I needed to let you know that I don't care and that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was scared of you. I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough to help you. I'm sorry I'm weak..."

Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion, "What in the world are you talking about? You're one of the strongest people I know! Heck if it wasn't for my jutsu and stuff, you'd be kicking my butt all over the place! Besides that, you being scared is only natural. Even I'm still scared of it."

Hearing the Jinchūriki's own admission of fear surprised Pyrrha, "You're scared of it? Why?"

Looking off to the side, Naruto's eyes gained a far off glaze to them, "I'm scared of what I could become if I lose control. One little slip up is all it takes for that power to take over. When it happens, it's hard for me to tell who's who. The last time it happened I almost destroyed what was left of my own village, the same place I was trying to protect."

The deep resounding voice of a certain Kitsune jumped into the conversation, "And that is to be expected. The kit's father was rather foolish and sealed only half of my power into him while he took the other half with him into the belly of the God of Death. The half that was left with Naruto was my negative half, the part of me fueled by rage and hatred. Being that I am pretty much sentient chakra, my power responds accordingly meaning that each time the kit here would draw on my power, he was subjected to a chakra that was corrosive even to him, eating away at his body and mind. It's only due to his Uzumaki genes and sheer stubbornness that he wasn't torn apart by it."

Now this left Pyrrha and even Naruto highly confused, the blond voicing the question, "Wait, if that's the case, then how come it's so much easier to use it now? I only feel that whole rage and hatred thing when I go above four tails."

Kurama nodded, "And that's because - like I've said before - you're father was foolish. Baka didn't know that as a Bijū I have a link to chakra as a whole and can draw from pretty much any source to replenish myself. In any other host it would have taken years for me to even begin reforming my other half, but being stuck in an Uzumaki who would later become a Sage sped up the process. Hell, being here on Uzu where chakra still saturates the air is speeding along the process even faster now."

"Wait! Is that why you had me start doing chakra control exercises again?" Naruto questioned.

Laying his head on his paws, Kurama lazily waved his tail around, "Mhmm. While it's true that you have yet to reach full maturity, with as often as you use the Rasengan - a technique which is among the highest forms of shape manipulation and therefore a highly advanced control technique - would have been enough to keep your control from being shot to hell." Seeing the indignant look on his container's face, the Bijū continued, "However! Because of the seal filtering some of my chakra to you, chakra that is now becoming even more potent as I get closer to being whole again, your chakra is still growing at a rate that occasional use of the Rasengan alone would not be nearly enough to keep up your control."

The blond shinobi childishly pouted. Pyrrha was the one to speak up next, "You were using the past tense to describe what would happen when he used your chakra. Why?"

Kurama grinned, "Noticed that did you? Glad someone did, unlike this dumbass." Ignoring his container's indignant cry at the jab to his intellect, the chakra beast continued, "As I become closer and closer to being full, my darker half becomes more balanced out meaning that my chakra becomes less corrosive to use. Once I'm back to my old self, the gaki can freely draw upon my chakra without worry. On the other hand, since he's as linked to the chakra as I am, if he were to draw upon it while angered or anything, the chakra would respond in kind."

Naruto grinned, excited at the prospect of having even more chakra to draw upon. If he could so carelessly use it now, he could only imagine what he could do with even more! Add that to his growing repertoire of jutsu and he would be a ninjutsu monster above even Kaka-sensei.

The former shinobi was shaken from his thoughts of being even more badass than he already was, when Kurama raised himself up and stretched out, "Now, either you two actually put that position to use or we continue exploring Uzu."

The two teens raised a brow before turning to see what the Kitsune was talking about. Cheeks instantly heated up as they took in the position they were currently in. With Naruto laid out on his back, and Pyrrha straddling him, the image presented wasn't exactly innocent. It didn't help that Naruto's hands had somehow ended up on the bare skin of the redhead's thighs while her own hands were splayed out on his chest.

As cognitive thought came back to the two, Pyrrha quickly leapt off her friend and captain while said blond quickly rose to his feet and began dusting himself off in a vain attempt to hide his own blush.

A few minutes of awkward shuffling and silence later and Pyrrha's eyes were drawn to the headband that now lay at her feet, having no doubt been thrown when she launched her surprise hug. Bending down to pick it up, the Huntress in training marveled at the craftsmanship put into it. The dark navy blue cloth was smooth and soft to the touch, yet seemed far more durable than most materials. Her hands brushed over the smooth metal plate, dipping into the grooves that had been carved out to form what she knew to by the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. Underneath that, and dotting the rest of the dark gray plate, were numerous smaller swirls, no doubt representative of the whirlpools that gave Uzushio it's name.

The fact that neither the plate more the cloth which it sat on were only slightly dusty after millennia of being exposed to the elements and time itself spoke of the level of care and skill that had been used to make the item.

Pyrrha's attention was drawn to Naruto as he spoke, "That's the hitae-ate for the head of the Uzumaki clan."

"So only clan heads wore these?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

Grabbing the small scroll that sat at the belt of his pants, Naruto grabbed it and unfurled it, looking for a specific item. Finding it amidst the various other items stored in the scroll, after clearing away the white smoke, Naruto held out a headband of a similar style to the one Pyrrha held in her hands. However the black cloth of his headband was heavily torn and frayed while the plate was scratched in several places and was dented in numerous spots as well. Instead of the Uzumaki swirl, there was what looked like a leaf engraved in the center of the metal plate.

It was clear that the item had seen better days.

"No, all shinobi are issued one by their village after graduating their academy and becoming Genin. It's a way to identify which village you belong to. Even rogue-nin wore one, but theirs always have a slash through the village symbol, showing that they had cut ties with their home," Naruto explained.

Nodding in understanding, Pyrrha asked another question, "I thought that the heads of a shinobi village were called Kages? Like your village had the Hokage right? Were their headbands special like this one?"

Smiling at the fact that his friend had actually remembered that little tidbit, Naruto replied, "Well actually only the leaders of the five major Hidden Villages could be considered Kages. They wore some pretty awesome looking robes and a hat that had a kanji on it."

Giggling at the childish description of a Kage's outfit, Pyrrha walked up to her captain with the headband in hand. For a moment she looked at him with a critical eye, like she was trying solve some sort of puzzle. Shifting awkwardly under her scrutiny, Naruto was about to ask what she was doing before she brought the headband up to his forehead. The blond was all but forced to look into the rather bountiful cleavage of his friend as she tiptoed while securing the item with a knot. Giving a final tug to tighten the cloth, Pyrrha admired her work with a smile before furrowing her brows, seemingly unsatisfied with something. With a snap of her fingers, the Invincible Girl ran her hands through Naruto's blond locks, freeing some of the longer strands, allowing them to settle and fall over the headband, covering it in some places.

Taking a look at her work, Pyrrha had to admit that the headband just seemed to fit, like Naruto should have one on at all times. Now that she was looking at him with it on, she just couldn't imagine him without one.

For his part, Naruto felt somehow...right again, as if something had finally clicked into place.

Satisfied with his new headband, Naruto turned and resumed his seat behind the desk, rifling through the drawers, "Well I've already found a few jutsu scrolls I'm keeping, but not much else which is kind of surprising."

Pyrrha was meanwhile looking at the various portraits that hung from the wall off to the side, no doubt depicting the past leaders of the village. It was interesting for her to see that one trait all of them shared, be they male or female, was that they all had striking red hair not unlike her own. This brought up an interesting point. If the trait appeared to be so dominant, why then was Naruto blond with blue eyes?

"Naruto? Do all Uzumaki's have red hair?" Pyrrha asked.

Turning to see that she was inspecting the portraits of the clan leaders of old, he nodded, "Yeah. It was one of the ways you could tell if someone was an Uzumaki. They all have red hair, are talented in Fūinjutsu, are super durable, and are usually pretty stubborn and outspoken."

Threading her fingers through her hair, Pyrrha curiously turned to face Naruto, "Do you think...I could be a descendant of the Uzumaki?"

Naruto was ready to shoot the idea down, seeing as how he, Tsunade, and Nagato had been among the last of the clan, and none of them had children. However the more he thought about it, he realized he could be wrong. His mom's diary and Tsunade had said that some of the clan had managed to escape the fall of Uzu and spread out across the countries. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he had met quite a few of other Uzumaki kids.

There was that chick who had joined up with Sasuke who had a healing factor to rival his own, that girl who could use Chakra Chains like his mom, and the Godaime Mizukage _(Fifth Water Shadow) _Mei was possibly also a distant relative. The more he thought about it, the more likely it became.

Pyrrha did indeed have that Uzumaki shade of red hair, the fighting spirit of a warrior that almost all of his clan had, and she was pretty durable. Squinting his eyes in thought, Naruto pondered aloud, "It's possible. You have a lot of the traits, but they're just not as prominent."

Kurama once again made his presence known, intrigued by the possibility of Pyrrha being a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, "However that could be due to how watered down the genes have become, we are a few millennia in the future after all. It's also possible that due to her lack of chakra to fuel said traits, they've become dormant."

Before they could further discuss what was now looking to be the highly likely chance of Pyrrha being at least distantly related to the Uzumaki, the impressive doors once more opened to reveal the rest of the mission team, Professor Panathenaea leading the group. Without further notice, Oobleck barged in and was scurrying around the room, frantically scribbling away, "Interesting! No other expedition party was capable of entering this office before! I assume it was kept sealed by a similar seal to the one at the secret entrance?"

Naruto raised a brow seeing the energetic professor move at speeds that would make his dad jealous, but replied nonetheless, "Sort of. This one was more particular though and needed the blood and chakra of 'The one who shoulders the weight of responsibility'."

Originally the blond had thought the seal meant a Jinchūriki when it talked of responsibility, but Kurama was quick to remind him that the clan - and no doubt the seal protecting the office - had been around for far longer than any Jinchūriki, barring the first Jinchūriki, the Rikudō, of course. That meant that the seal was talking of another type of responsibility which Kurama seemed to think was the responsibility of leading the clan and the village. Because the seal opened for Naruto, this could only mean that Kushina - and by extension he - were of the main Uzumaki line. Subsequently this meant he was closer in relation to Mito and Tsunade then he originally thought.

"So the only one who could unlock this office were the leaders? How did you manage to unlock it then?" Olive questioned suspiciously.

Naruto shrugged, "The Uzumaki clan had a main line, and it was usually from that line that the leader was chosen from. Just means I'm part of that blood line."

Fed up with how coincidental all of it seemed, the young Professor questioned, "And how did you know that? How did you know about the secret entrance? Ms. Valkyrie told us you were an orphan, so how do you know so much about all of this?"

If Naruto was offended that Nora had told them he grew up an orphan, he didn't show it, instead settling on raising a brow at the rather eloquent outburst, "My mom left me her diary which talked a lot about the clan. A few of the last entries are even written for me, so I could learn about my heritage. My Godmother was also distantly related to the Uzumaki and was more than happy to share what she knew."

Effectively cowed, Olive huffed, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere. The blond clearly had an answer for any question she could pose, which she could appreciate. He was being tactical with who he trusted. On the other hand, that alone bothered her. Most Huntsman and Huntresses of course had their personal secrets and lives, but not to this extent. With the way he was acting, the teen seemed less like a Huntsman in training and more like secret agent or something.

A shriek drew everyone's attention to the window. Coming from the distance, they could all see a large black mass speeding through the air. As it grew closer, it became clear that the black mass was a Nevermore, an old one if it's impressive size was anything to go by.

"What's a Nevermore doing here? They should only be drawn to negativity and there hasn't been anyone occupying this island for millennia!" Panathenaea cried out.

It took a moment before Kurama and Naruto turned to look at each other, a look of realization crossing their faces, _'Your/My chakra!'_

Cursing up a storm and ignoring the cries that came from the others, both Naruto and the Bijū leapt out the open window. Rushing to the edge, the others saw the blond scaling the building, headed for the roof. Before the two professors could question how the teen was so easily defying gravity, Pyrhha followed suit and copied her captain's actions, running up the side of the building just as easily thanks to liberal use of her Semblance.

Turning around, the two Huntsmen managed to catch the fleeting forms of Ren and Nora as they made a mad dash for the roof as well, "We really need to learn how to do that Ren!"

"What is up with these kids!?"

* * *

Naruto glared at the impressive form of the Nevermore as it made its towards the last standing building in Uzu. Mind already running a mile a minute, he barely shifted his eyes as he saw Pyrrha join him, Miló and Akoúo in hand. A few seconds later, Ren and Nora joined them, completing the team.

"So what's the plan captain?" Nora exuberantly asked.

Speeding through a set of handseals, Naruto inhaled before calling out, "Katon: Karyū Endan!"

Exhaling, Naruto unleashed a stream of flames that burned white hot. The flames began to change and mould into something, growing larger and larger until it eventually took on the form of the mythic beast. The dragon of fire roared, a guttural and booming sound, as it's burning eyes glared at the approaching Nevermore. Without any warning, the infernal beast surged forward, crossing the sky with its maw open to engulf the large bird like Grimm.

However to everyone's surprise, the Grimm pulled back and began to flap its massive wings, kicking up winds that managed to reach them yards away. That wasn't the surprising part though. What threw team NNPR for a loop was when blades of wind formed as the Nevermore continued to flap its wings, those same blades slicing into the dragon of flames and chopping it up until it was naught but embers that were smothered by the force of the winds.

_'That...that was Wind natured chakra! A Grimm just used a jutsu!' _Naruto's mind raced.

It made sense, the Grimm were like the Bijū, constructs of chakra, therefore, like the Bijū, they could use that chakra to produce their own version of jutsu.

_'That windbag Port did say that as they grow older, Grimm grow stronger and even gain intelligence,' _Kurama supplied.

_'But neither of those Beowulves we met in that village used a jutsu! Not even that Deathstalker during initiation used chakra and that thing was ancient!'_

_'That just means they were not as old as we believed. The Deathstalker may have been the offspring of the original one that had lived there before it or merely been another older one that took up that cave as its resting place. Either way this means that this Nevermore is far older than any Grimm we've encountered and has the intelligence and power to back that up.'_

Frowning, Naruto stared down the approaching form of the Nevermore, "Guys, that Grimm just used chakra. That attack? It was a jutsu. This thing is old, very old and very powerful. We're gonna have to pull out all the stops if we wanna take this thing down."

As he said that though, Naruto's mind was racing a mile a minute. Katon: Karyū Endan wasn't his strongest jutsu, but it wasn't exactly weak either. Add to that the fact that he had funneled a generous amount of chakra to power it, and that just meant the Nevermore was that much stronger to be able to so easily dispel it. There was also the issue that neither he or his teammates were exactly known for their long range capabilities.

Sure they each had their firearms, but none of them were all that powerful. Ren's SMG's would do nothing but annoy the Grim, Pyrrha's shells might cause some damage, and Nora's rounds were more suited to slow moving targets, and the Grimm had just easily banished one of his strongest ranged jutsu with ease. Close range would be the best option, but with most of Uzu's buildings laying in ruin, there were no footholds to get them up high enough for that.

All in all it wasn't the most favorable situation. Then again, Naruto was no stranger to having the odds stacked against him.

* * *

**AN: **Ok ok I know I'm late! And yes I know I left off on what some may call a cliffhanger.

In my defense I was busy moving and buying new furniture and such, then I had to help my parents move to their new place and then I got caught up throwing myself into working on music. Basically my life has been rather busy as of late and there was very little time I had to just sit and type and let my thoughts flow.

To make up for it - despite this chapter being "filler-ish" - I made it that much longer and included way more stuff. I've also already started on the next chapter and it is looking to be just as long and interesting, most of it being the fight scene between team NNPR and the Grimm. I MAY have it out by next Thursday if all goes to plan. Don't hold me to that though.

As usual I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Any questions/comments/concerns? Feel free to leave a review. Something you want answered ASAP? Shoot me a pm.

925 reviews. So close! 75 more and we break that 1000 mark! I am so excited and hyped beyond belief and it is hopefully showing in my writing. If not this chapter, next chapter will definitely break it and I promise you, next chapter will be epic. There's a lot of stuff that's going down so get ready! All aboard the hype train motherfuckers! CHOO CHOO

Have a fan-fucking-tastic day you lovely people!

Peace

Out!


	16. AN

I know I know! I am horribly late with a chapter and seeing an author's note from me instead of a chapter is probably not making the lot of you happy. However! I have a valid reason!

This story has now officially past the 1000 reviews mark! I can not begin to express my gratitude to all of you have helped me achieve this! Seeing that 900 count change to that 1k+ was fucking amazing!

Seeing as how this story has become my crowning achievement thus far, I want to make the next chapter a chapter deserving of that review count. As such I'm taking as much care to make it badass and something to enjoy.

Not only that, I have also begun work on a new...ish story. It will debut shortly after the next chapter for Maelstrom and some of those who have followed my other works will recognize it.

So, no I'm not dead and I'm not sitting on my ass doing nothing. I am taking my time so I can produce the quality stuff you have all driven me to make.

Thank you to all those people who took that little extra bit of time to leave a review, even if was just a "This a good story!".

A special thank you to my repeat followers and reviewers like YuukiAsuna-Chan, hollowichigo12, Spartan Ninja, Kyuubi Hollow, Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, Ventusblade, and so many others!

An even more special thank you to jdr733552 who helped to push the story over that 1000 mark and left me several lengthy messages full of praise, criticisms, and ideas.

I never thought I'd publish a story on here and have it reach this goal so quickly, so this is somewhat of a momentous occasion for me.

As both a treat and a "Sorry I'm late with the chapter" offering, here's a teaser of the next chapter!"

* * *

_"Guys, do you trust me?" Naruto asked suddenly._

_Without hesitation, Pyrrha was the first to reply, "Always."_

_Nora happily nodded, "Yup!"_

_Ren raised a brow, but shrugged, "You've given us no reason not to."_

_Their blond captain grinned mischievously, "Then here goes nothing!"_

* * *

_Now rid of the little bugs, the Nevermore gave a victorious screech and opened its wings to their full span, blotting out the light of the sun due to its massive size and wingspan._

* * *

_Naruto pulled back on the handle of Hi no Ishi, however instead of breaking or being pulled out, the ring portion of the staff lowered, forming an almost ninety degree angle. Pulsing chakra through the conductive metal and simultaneously squeezing the leather wrapped bar that vertically crossed through the ring, an unmistakable 'bang!' echoed._

* * *

_Holding the cartridge of Fire aligned Dust in her hand, Pyrrha worriedly stared into the amber eyes of a Senjutsu empowered Naruto, "Are you sure this'll work?"_

_Naruto shrugged, "Nope! Only one way to find out though!"_

_Signing, but knowing this was possibly their only chance of actually being able to damage the Grimm, Pyrrha poured out the powdered Dust into her friend's waiting palm. Backing away, the red head watched as the now familiar shape of Naruto's signature attack took shape, further grinding the Dust down._

_To her, and almost everyone's surprise, sparks began to appear as the Dust was forced to collide and combust under the dizzying speeds of the chakra ball. The formerly blue tinted technique quickly began to burn in hues of orange and red. _

_As blades began to form and spin in a familiar shuriken-esque manner, the rest of the team waited for the shriek of chakra grinding against element. They were highly surprised when instead of the high pitched noise, the roar and crackle of flames grew louder and louder._

_As the technique fully formed, Naruto shouted,"Nora! Now!"_

_Gripping her captain by the back of his tattered jacket, Nora spun in place once, and - using the strength granted to her by her Semblance - sent the blond soaring through the air like a missile._

* * *

_Naruto sat cross legged, blankly looking out at the graves of his fallen clansmen. Part of him felt some form of catharsis knowing they now had proper graves. The other part of him was deeply saddened as he realized that this was not only what was left of his family and name, but what was left of the shinobi era as a whole. Fitting that the last memoir of an age of greed, backstabbing, and hatred was a battlefield littered with corpses._

* * *

Well I don't wanna give away too much, so that's only a glimpse of what you can expect to see next chapter!

I may also wrap up the Uzushio arc with last chapter. As it's going right now, it looks like some of it will spill over to the following chapter, even with as long as I'm making this next update, but most of the arc will be taken care of.

Again, thank you all so much for helping me achieve this, I am super grateful to you all!

Until next time!

PEACE


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: **Before I do the usual and discuss reviews and this story, I want to get one thing said. As most, if not all, of you know by now, Nintendo head Mr. Satoru Iwata has passed away. My very first console and memories of gaming were of the N64 and playing Mario Kart with my family. The first console I bought using my own money was the Nintendo Wii. My first console I bought after having not touched a console game since middle school was the Wii U. I've owned and beat either one or all the games of each Pokemon generation. I've owned every Legend of Zelda console game and most of the handhelds and beaten EVERY Zelda game ever made, yes even those horrid CDI games. I've owned every Smash Brothers game. I owned near every incarnation of the Gameboy and now the only one I haven't owned is the New 3DS, a fact which will be remedied soon. I've loved Kirby ever since I played Kirby and the Crystal Shards. I remember spending literal HOURS playing Animal Crossing on the GameCube with my cousin. I remember me and my cousin looking up stupid cheats when sites like IGN and such were barely becoming a thing. It was under Satoru Iwata's tenure as president that I played some of the best games and had some of my best gaming memories. It was under Mr. Iwata's tenure that I became a Nintendo fan for life. This man that I have never met has impacted my life in such a huge way through his creations alone that it seems nearly inconceivable. I am and will always be a gamer. I am and will always be a Nintendo fan. Those two facts are due in no small part to Mr. Iwata.

It is with a sad heart and tears in my eyes that I say, thank you Mr. Iwata.

"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." - Satoru Iwata (1959-2015)

Now as I wipe tears from my eyes, let's talk story. This was supposed to be up yesterday but I got sidetracked playing some Smash Bros with my coworkers and friends till like 2 am. Sorry haha.

I know I've done a whole thank you note before, but I just want to reiterate how thankful I am to all of you who have helped me reach my first thousand plus reviews on a story. It really does mean quite a bit to me.

Real quick I want to give a shoutout to BlackMagic622 who messaged me after the release of the announcement update thingy and asked if he could do a Reading style fic of this story and after getting a sneak peak of it, I gave them the go ahead. As far as I've been told, the Prelude or set up chapter will be released soon and the actual first chapter not too much later afterwards. When the fic does come out, I want you all to go show it some love and appreciation! JUST DO IT.

There weren't any questions or anything, just clamoring for this chapter to finally come out and well...here it is!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Guys, do you trust me?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Without hesitation, Pyrrha was the first to reply, "Always."

Nora happily nodded, "Yup!"

Ren raised a brow, but shrugged, "You've given us no reason not to."

Their blond captain grinned mischievously, "Then here goes nothing!"

Without any kind of warning, a clone of the Jinchūriki grabbed each of them by the arm and a quick spin and a chakra enhanced toss later saw the whole of team NNPR soaring through the air, headed straight for the Nevermore.

"WEEEEEE!" Nora cried as the wind howled around them, childishly indulging herself.

The other members of the team smiled at her antics before growing serious, the searing red eyes of the Grimm growing closer.

"Nora! Give that thing a good one!" Naruto cried over the winds.

Not giving a verbal reply, the hammer wielder fired off a round to speed her up. The Grimm opened its mouth expecting the teen to simply fly into its gullet. Aiming Magnahild down, Nora fired another round, sharply changing her course and placing her above the Nevermore. Another shot had her plowing Magnahild straight into the top part of the Grimm's skull, halting its flight and making it give out a shriek of pain.

Ren was the second to have been launched and was the next to arrive at the Grimm. Pulling out Stormflower, the long haired teen twisted his body and stabbed the bladed handles of his twin firearms into the armored back of the Nevermore. Still having a bit of momentum leftover from his flight courtesy of Air Naruto, Ren gouged out two trails into the ancient Grimm's back, exposing the flesh underneath. Coming to a stop, he twirled Stormflower and began to unleash a flurry of bullets and Aura enhanced kicks into the creature's back, creating more openings in the bone like substance..

The bird like Grimm was not at all amused by this and was about to give a flap of its wings to rid itself of the two pests on it before it's eyes caught the shock of red currently headed for it. Pyrrha, the shock of red, landed feet first on the head of the Grimm. Miló in its spear form and wielded with two hands was viciously stabbed in between the Grimm's eyes in an attempt to lobotomize the creature.

The thick white armor that covered most of its head and portions of its body protected it from being left brain dead, but Pyrrha had managed to force her weapon far enough past the armor to at least pierce into flesh, the Nevermore in even more pain now and even more intent on ridding itself of the pests.

"Ōdama Rasengan _(Big Ball Spiralling Sphere)_!"

A large basketball sized orb of pure chakra ground into the armor that had already been weakened thanks to Ren's efforts. Chunks of the stuff flew away while most of it was shredded into a fine powder under the drilling nature of the overpowered Rasengan.

Enraged by the ants that had managed to penetrate its defenses, the Nevermore gave a great shriek that traveled across the desolate island, those within earshot of the cry wincing as their eardrums began to painfully vibrate. Flapping its wings, the massive bird spun around sending each member of team NNPR flying off its body.

Now rid of the little bugs, the Nevermore gave a victorious screech and opened its wings to their full span, blotting out the light of the sun due to its massive size and wingspan.

Each member of team NNPR were busy gaining back their bearings after having landed on solid ground once more. The four teens stared at the circling form of the Grimm, a menacing shadow that was clearly intent on burying them six feet under.

"Pyrrha, any ideas?" Naruto asked.

It was clear his original plan of combatting the Nevermore in the air had been rather foolish. They had managed to at least slightly wound it and it's armor, but clearly aerial combat wasn't exactly their forte, especially considering none of them could fly.

"We have to bring it down here, or at least get it to fly low enough for us to actually cause some damage-"

Pyrrha was forced to cut her speech short in order to escape the blades of wind that carved their way into where team NNPR had previously been standing. The four teens continued to run, dodging the onslaught of razor sharp winds, trying in vain to formulate a plan to land some sort of decisive blow on the Nevermore. Of course, seeing as how the thing was clearly more than happy to maintain its aerial advantage and keep them on the move by peppering them with its chakra based attacks, plans were in short supply.

Of course though Naruto may not be as good as Pyrrha at planning ahead, he was a genius when it came to making up plans on the fly.

"Fūton: Renkūdan _(Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)_!"

Pumped full of enough chakra to make the jutsu as large as a small car, Naruto channeled the wind natured chakra through Hi no Ishi and swung the staff, the condensed ball of air aimed straight at the Nevermore.

Feeling the distortion in the wind and seeing how it's blades were being torn to shreds upon impacting with the superior jutsu, the ancient Grimm decided to halt its own attack in favor of dodging. Tucking black feathered wings in, the Nevermore performed a rather graceful spin to avoid being pummeled by the jutsu. Coming out of the maneuver, the Grimm turned hateful red eyes upon the blond insect who had dared to attack it.

Seeing that he now had the monstrous bird's attention, Naruto began to sprint away from the rest of his team, headed for the river that bisected the village, "I'll keep it distracted! You guys figure out how we can take this bird down!"

Pyrrha wanted to argue, but knew that logically speaking, this was the best route for them. Out of the four of them, Naruto was the best equipped to at least hold off the Grimm. She wasn't sure if he could actually kill it himself, even with all of his power ups and jutsu, but those same abilities meant he could at least keep its attention long enough for the rest of them to gather their wits.

Biting her lip in frustration, Pyrrha wracked her brain for anything that could possibly help them defeat this monster.

* * *

_'Kurama! Can't you just take his thing down with a Bijūdama _(Tailed Beast Ball) _or something!?' _Naruto mentally shouted as he was forced to dodge a hail of black feathers twice his size.

The Bijū grunted in frustration, _'I could but we don't know if or how the seals that protect the village will react. They could perceive it as an attack and attempt to stop it, but a Bijūdama strong enough to take this bird down could possibly overload the seals and I'm sure the last thing you want is to send this place sky high.'_

Cursing, Naruto rolled to the side in order to dodge yet another barrage of wind blades. He could just activate either the Bijū Cloak or Sennin Mōdo and smash an empowered Rasenshuriken into the thing's face, but seeing as how it had taken a Ōdama Rasengan and only lost part of its armor, he didn't think a Rasenshuriken - even powered by Kurama' chakra or Nature Chakra - would be enough to fell the monster.

Besides that, the fallout from the attack, even high up in the air, would still cause far too much collateral for his liking.

Funneling chakra through his shakujo, Naruto turned and launched a Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu at the Nevermore, causing it to slow down in order to avoid the blazing ball of flames and giving Naruto some much needed breathing room.

_'How did this thing even get past the seals!?'_

_'Remember, these things are made of Nature energy. The seals would mistake it for an animal or something,' _Kurama grunted out.

With a burst of chakra, Naruto propelled himself out above the river, narrowly dodging the Nevermore's imitation jutsu. With practiced ease, Naruto used chakra to stick to the surface of the river, staring defiantly into the burning hate filled eyes of the ancient Grimm.

Done with running, the blond half blood Uzumaki stood his ground and as the gargantuan Nevermore pulled its wings back, he sped through a chain of seals, his fingers a blur.

Staring the other in the eye, the two foes unleashed their attacks.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu _(Water Release: Water Dragon Missile)_!"

Water from the river below him began to rise up in tendrils, coalescing into one mass above the blond's head. The ball of water writhed like a living organism, becoming streamlined and soon forming into the ferocious visage of a dragon. With a watery growl, the beast of surged forth, rushing to meet the gale force winds the Nevermore had kicked up.

The two elements - one a wall of wind and the other a mythic beast of water - met high above even the buildings and battled for dominance. For a second it seemed as if the two would implode, being made of equal strength and power, however with another flap of its wings, the Nevermore reinforced its own attack with enough power to shred through the draconian jutsu, sending water down as if it were raining.

From the brief veil of mist that had resulted from the two techniques clashing, Naruto emerged like a blond torpedo, a feral grin on his face and a Rasengan held in each hand. Clones, perfect launching gear and a helpful extra set of hands for forming the more taxing jutsu.

The Nevermore let loose a shriek of power, not in the least bothered by what it perceived to be a small nuisance at best. With a simple swing of one of its wings, the Grimm back handed Naruto and sent him hurtling back down into the river with a splash. To ensure its victory, it flapped its wings and sent down another hail of its blade like feathers. Following that the ancient monster formed another wall of wind, turning the already deadly pitch black feathers into massive missiles capable of piercing even the thickest walls.

"Fūton: Daitoppa _(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)_!"

The onslaught of feathers was met by a funnel of winds so ferocious that it stripped them of the black barbs and sent the hollowed spines harmlessly clattering to the ground.

Two Naruto's emerged from the river, both already speeding through a sequence of hand seals.

"Suiton: Mizurappa _(Water Release: Water Trumpet)_!"

"Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu _(Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique)_!"

"Konbijutsu: Fūsui Rappa no Jutsu _(Collaboration Technique: Wind Water Wild Wave Technique)_!"

Empowered by the cutting blades of wind, the concussive stream of water hit its mark and was quickly tearing through the bone like armor of the Grimm, going so far as to cause the creature to bleed heavily. Enraged and in pain, the Nevermore let out a horrifying shriek that echoed across the island.

The ancient Grimm however proved that it had indeed survived for countless decades and was not going to go down so easily. Flapping its right wing, the only one not currently being torn to shreds by Naruto's Konbijutsu, it gave a mighty flap and sent down blades of wind, one cutting through the clone causing it to disperse, and the others forcing Naruto to cancel his jutsu lest he become mincemeat.

Burning red eyes gazed down at the blond nuisance. The Grimm's body was covered in splotches of red while the underside of its body and left wing were almost entirely stripped of feathers, and even skin, even more red painting it. Whatever bone armor it had before was now gone, leaving only a heavily fractured and near crumbling head piece. Yet still, despite its lack of feathers and heavily wounded state, the Nevermore continued to maintain its current altitude, no doubt thanks to generous use of wind natured chakra.

However it soon forsook that advantage in favor of speeding down towards a currently heavily panting Naruto. The blond cursed mentally. It had been quite a while since he had to toss around such high powered jutsu like that and even though he had more than enough stamina and chakra to keep going, his body was attempting to readjust to having such large volumes of chakra expelled in such a short span of time.

As the Grimm was upon him, beak prepared to skewer him, a pink blur slammed into the wounded Nevermore's side with the force of a train, knocking it off course. Surprised, Naruto was quick to grab his teammate and haul her up, seeing as how she was unable to walk on water like him.

Nora, supported by her captain, puffed out her cheeks, "You can walk on water too!? How do you not know how to pull a rabbit out of a hat!?"

Laughing at Nora's oddness, even in the face of the current situation, Naruto grinned, "After this is all over, I'll see if I can learn how to do that."

Naruto was highly surprised when Pyrrha began to make her way over to them, her and Ren standing atop a large sheet of metal, at a pretty quick pace. It seemed that her mastery over her Semblance was getting better and better with each day if she could so easily keep both herself and Ren afloat on an item that would otherwise quickly sink to the river floor.

Taking stock of Naruto's haggard appearance - his jacket torn in a number of places and small leftover blood from wounds that had no doubt already healed - Pyrrha began to fret, "Are you gonna be alright?"

Naruto grinned, "Yeah I'll be fine. I'm just hoping you came up with some way to bring this bird down!"

Smiling at the blond's exuberance, Pyrrha turned a hardened gaze at the recovering figure of the Nevermore, "I was originally going to see if you could use either Sage Mode or something to take it down, but now that it's armor is gone, I think we can have an easier time of getting hits in."

As if to prove her point, the Grimm lost a few feet in altitude and looked to be struggling to barely keep itself afloat, all the while glaring at the teens. The area where Nora had hit a few minutes ago was already bruising and looked to be bleeding as well. Without its armor to protect it, the Nevermore was far more vulnerable.

Without the need for seals, Naruto summoned two more clones, each grabbing one of his teammates. Pushing off the surface of the river as if it were solid ground, team NNPR regrouped, keeping an eye on the quickly ascending form of the Nevermore. It seemed to have realized that keeping the four teens at a distance was the best way to come out of this fight alive.

"I think our shells will be enough to at least weaken it even more, so let's pepper it," Pyrrha called out as she shifted Miló into its rifle form. Nora nodded and collapsed Magnahild back down into its grenade launcher shape. Ren simply brandished the twin pistols of StormFlower. Realizing that her captain's only long range capabilities were his jutsu, the red head continued, "Uh, Naruto I guess we'll take it from here."

Naruto cracked a mischievous grin, "What? Did you forget I left Hi no Ishi with the Achievement Hunters?"

The other three teens turned to watch as Naruto pulled back on the handle of Hi no Ishi, however instead of breaking off or having the hidden blade pulled out, the ring portion of the staff lowered, forming an almost ninety degree angle. Pulsing chakra through the conductive metal and simultaneously squeezing the leather wrapped bar that vertically crossed through the ring, an unmistakable 'bang!' echoed.

They all watched as whatever projectile Naruto had fired from Hi no Ishi clipped the Nevermore on the cheek, enraging the avian Grimm even further.

Sweat dropping Naruto nervously chuckled, "Guess I could use some practice aiming, ne?"

The others laughed before beginning the rain of bullets. Seeing as how Ren and Pyrrha's firearms were quicker on firing then either Nora or Naruto's weapon, but lacked the sheer power of the grenade launcher and what appeared to be staff turned sniper class gun, the two took on the Rose formation and steered the Nevermore into the Disaster pair's line of fire.

Combined, Naruto and Nora were indeed living up to their formation's name. Already the Nevermore had suffered even more damage due to the sheer explosive power of Magnahild's rounds, leaving it with even more burned feathers and scorch marks while the piercing rounds of Hi no Ishi tore through even bone.

Pyrrha's insane marksmanship had Miló's fire enhanced rounds doing even more damage while Ren's StormFlower had been outfitted with Lightning type Dust to not only increase firing speed, but also give them a little extra shock.

At its wits end, the Nevermore coated the entirety of its body in a shroud of wind natured chakra and with a mighty flap, unleashed a veritable typhoon upon Uzushio. Wide eyed, Naruto jumped in front of his teammates and as quick as was possible, gathered the necessary energy to not only activate Sennin Mōdo, but to also form his signature Rasenshuriken.

With a mighty effort, Naruto slammed his own Fūton jutsu into the approaching whirlwind, wind blades grinding against wind blades in a fight for dominance. The screeching roar of the drill like nature of the elemental Rasengan fighting against the typhoon that spun counter to it was deafening and the backlash of the two high powered techniques meeting had the other three teens on their hands and knees in a bid to keep from being blown away.

The once calm waters of the river were gone, replaced by the churning waves of a stormy sea, waves harshly crashing into the shorelines. For all intents and purposes it seemed as if Uzushio had become the battleground for gods, engulfed by the storm that was the backlash of two mighty titans meeting on the battlefield.

However Naruto was not a god and, while powerful, his own technique was a volatile double edged sword considering he hadn't taken the time to properly form it, far too busy attempting to save his friends. Even perfected, the Rasenshuriken was not a jutsu meant to be used so close quarters and Naruto was being reminded of that fact as the cutting winds of his own technique bit into his arm, rending flesh from bone and painfully tearing into his chakra system while the rest of his body was being punished by the harsh winds of the typhoon that raged only inches from his face.

Eventually the two warring techniques could take no more and all at once, the two techniques imploded. Being in the midst of the two, Naruto was subject to what felt like a bomb going off on his face. The sheer concussive force of the explosion sent him hurtling into one of the decrepit buildings, causing the already delicate structure to collapse in on him.

The rest of team NNPR was not given a respite of any sort, the Nevermore upon them in a matter of seconds. One wing plowed into Nora, sending her skipping along the ground like a pebble across a river. Before Ren could even react, a massive clawed foot was painfully pinning him to the ground. The long haired teen screamed in pain as more pressure was applied and his bones began to creek in protest.

Seeing her friend and teammate in pain, Pyrrha attempted to at least distract the monstrous avian, but the Grimm was done playing. Using its good wing it sent a wall of wind at Pyrrha slamming her into the ground, leaving her wide eyed and breathless. Turning burning red eyes back on the prey currently caught beneath its foot, the Grimm seemed intent on taking them out one at a time, starting with Ren.

Before it could do so, a ball of flames exploded directly on its face, causing the Grimm to give an indignant cry of irritation. Following that, the Nevermore was forced to free Ren when the tendons on its foot were savagely severed by a particularly sharp shield. A blow to the underside of its beak had it stumbling back while piercing gunfire shredded its remaining good wing.

"Oobleck! Now!"

As one, the two Professors slammed their respective weapon into the body of the Grimm sending it into the still churning waters of the river.

Panting and looking like they had been involved in their own scuffle, Panathenaia and Oobleck quickly gathered their younger students.

Nora looked to have a dislocated shoulder and possibly a slight concussion alongside several bruises and scrapes. Ren's ribs were either heavily bruised or broken and he was thusly having trouble breathing. Pyrrha had banged her head and back rather painfully and was having trouble even standing.

Naruto was possibly the worst, and the sight of him had Pyrrha choking back tears. His right arm from the hand up to his elbow was shredded, lacerations covering near every inch of his limb making it look like his arm had been used as a chew toy for a pack of dogs. The rest of his body was just as bad, either covered in cuts ranging from the size of a fingernail to deep trenches that revealed the soft tissue and muscle below. His leg also looked to be either broken or severely sprained after having concrete and other building materials fall on him.

What no one questioned was the disappearance of a certain Kitsune.

Back inside the confines of the seal, Kurama was fast at work, pumping as much of his chakra into Naruto as was safe to speed along the healing process.

_'C'mon gaki, you're not dying on me just yet. You're made of much tougher stuff than that!'_

Everyone watched as steam began to rise from Naruto's wounds, a thin layer of transparent orange chakra covering him like a blanket. As the seconds ticked by, flesh began to knit itself back together, cuts closing, and bones snapping back into place. Eventually the only major damage left was that to Naruto's right arm. Soon though, it too began to heal, however at a much slower pace than any of the other wounds.

With a start, Naruto came to, taking a deep breath of air and hissing as he felt the sharp shooting pain of the various wounds that dotted his body. Relieved sighs came in stereo. Taking in the damaged forms of his teammates, Naruto frowned. He had failed to protect his precious people and they had clearly paid the price. Deciding he would deal with that later, Naruto turned and saw the ruffled appearances of the two professors that had saved them and raised a brow, "What happened to you two?"

Oobleck turned to where the Nevermore had fallen under the surface of the river, "Unfortunately our feathered friend did not come without company and Professor Panathenaia and myself felt it prudent to entertain our guests."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the brunette professor spoke, "I can not believe your stupidity. Trying to fight an old Grimm is one thing, but that monster was clearly ancient and beyond any of your capabilities. The fact that you're all still standing, albeit barely, is a testament to your luck."

Naruto began to shakily stand up, garnering protests from those around him. Stubbornly he shook his head, "That things not dead yet."

Panathenaia shook her head, "Look, I highly doubt that thing is coming back and even if it was still alive, it's going to drown under the river so it's best to just-"

A piercing shriek caused everyone to turn and stare in horror as the heavily damaged and mangled form of the Grimm broke through the surface of the river, eyes trained on them in fury.

Taking a deep inhale, Naruto once more called upon the energy of Nature, allowing it to flood and mingle with his body, bringing on the hardly noticeable change of Sennin Mōdo for the second time. With the aid of Nature's soothing chakra, the former shinobi's wounds began to heal at an even faster rate. Twitching one of his fingers as a test, Naruto bit back a growl as pain shot throughout his arm. Despite his own healing factor being aided by Kurama and Nature's energy and his arm looking a lot better than it had, the damage brought on by him using an incomplete Rasenshuriken was still being fixed.

It would probably be a few days until the various nerves and chakra pathways in his arm were properly fixed.

Using his good hand, Naruto reached into his now torn and tattered jacket and retrieved a roll of medical bandages. Using his teeth and good hand he wrapped up the entirety of his right arm from fingers to the elbow. Cracking his neck, Naruto turned his amber eyes to his team, "Guys, I think I can take this mangy bird down, but I'm gonna need your help."

Despite their own wounds, the other three teens nodded firmly. They were a team and if their friend and captain needed their help, they would do whatever it was, no questions asked.

"Professors, can you keep it occupied? This may take a while," Naruto said.

Knowing that the blond teen was possibly the best choice to finally take down this Grimm, Panathenaia frowned but nonetheless nodded her ascent, Oobleck copying her action. In a blur the two were off.

"Pyrrha, you still got a cartridge of fire Dust left?" Seeing her nod, Naruto stretched his good arm out, palm facing up, "Not a clue how this will go, but I guess no time like the present right? Can you pour it out into my hand?"

Not being able to connect the dots, Pyrrha raised a brow but nodded.

"Ren, you have the best control over your Aura out of all of us. I'm gonna need you to form a bubble around the Dust as I form my attack, when I say so, let it pop and back up, alright?"

Seeing where his captain was going with this, Ren nodded and cupped his hands over top Naruto's palm.

Finally, it clicked in Pyrrha's head. Naruto planned to combine the Dust with his Rasenshuriken and hopefully deal one final blow.

Holding the cartridge of Fire aligned Dust in her hand, Pyrrha worriedly stared into the amber eyes of a Senjutsu empowered Naruto, "Isn't there another way? We all saw what that technique did to you when used it without throwing it."

Naruto smiled at hearing how worried Pyrrha was, "Don't worry, that was my fault. I didn't properly form the shell and paid the price. This time I got it, -ttebayo!"

Signing, but knowing this was possibly their only chance of actually being able to finish off the Grimm, Pyrrha poured out the powdered Dust into her friend's waiting palm. Backing away, the red head watched as the now familiar shape of Naruto's signature attack took shape, Ren's bubble of Aura keeping the Dust safe inside.

"Ren, now!"

To her, and almost everyone's surprise, as the bubble "popped" sparks began to appear as the Dust was forced to collide and combust under the dizzying speeds of the chakra ball. The formerly blue tinted technique quickly began to burn in hues of orange and red.

As blades began to form and spin in a familiar shuriken-esque manner, the rest of the team waited for the shriek of chakra grinding against element. They were highly surprised when instead of the high pitched noise, the roar and crackle of flames grew louder and louder.

As the technique fully formed, Naruto shouted, "Professors, back off!"

Panting and bedraggled, the two professors regrouped with their students. The two stared in awe at the sizeable shuriken, flames whipping to and fro inside the jutsu, begging to escape their chakra prison.

"Alright Nora, give me a good toss!"

Gripping her captain by the back of his tattered jacket, Nora spun in place once, and - using the strength granted to her by her Semblance - sent the blond soaring through the air like a missile.

The Nevermore stared at the approaching blond missile and rushed to meet the pest head on, wind chakra turning it into a red and black colored missile of hate and anger.

Streaking through the air, the two collided high above Uzushio, unnoticed by Uzushio's defensive seals due to their being almost entirely powered by Nature chakra at this point.

"Senpō: Katon Rasenshuriken _(Sage Art: Fire Release Spiralling Shuriken)_!"

Flames licked at the Nevermore as beak met jutsu, Naruto once more subject to the bite of wind as it cut into him. As the two elements fought for dominance it seemed that the two titans were of equal match and would thusly destroy the other. However the Nevermore had made a grave error. It had thought its winds strong enough to snuff out the flames of the blond haired ant like it had done to the dragon of flames at the start of their battle. This would be its downfall.

Powered by Naruto's Sage Mode enhanced chakra and the very nature of what Dust was, the flames of this jutsu were far stronger than what most chakra created fire was capable of being.

All at once the blaze of flames asserted its dominance as the superior element, growing in ferocity thanks to the wind provided by the Grimm. The now massive conflagration of flames surged forward, devouring the Nevermore in a tomb of blistering heat and fire.

Even hundreds of feet away and firmly planted to their positions, the three teens and two professors could feel the spike in temperature as the jutsu detonated and yet they paid that little mind, far more entranced as they watched as the very sky itself seemed to catch fire, the aftermath of such a destructive technique replacing the clear blue with vivid hues of red and orange. It was an odd juxtaposition, the raw destructive force that was fire itself resulting in such a beautiful sight while they stood amongst the ruins of a long dead civilization.

They were all forced back into the present as they spotted Naruto's form falling from the sky, unmoving. Despite their wounds, Team NNPR moved as one, ignoring the cries of a protesting Panathenaia and breaking into a dead sprint and making for where their captain was headed.

With a boost from Nora, Pyrrha managed to scale what remained of a nearby building and catch her friend in a bridal carry. With some help from Ren, the four teens managed to make it back down to ground without incident. Laying an unmoving, but conscious Naruto down, his head situated on Pyrrha's lap, the team of four collapsed.

For a moment no one said anything, their minds still busy going over everything that had just happened. Naruto could only mentally chuckle at the bad luck he had when concerning missions. What was supposed to be some simple historical knowledge dig was turned into him and his team fighting a Grimm who was so old and powerful that it was capable of using chakra. Unable to hold it in, his mental laugh became an actual laugh, catching his teammates by surprise.

It began quietly, but soon Naruto was laughing as if he had just been told the greatest joke ever. Infected by their captain's own laughter, the others couldn't help but to let out their own.

Injured, but alive, team NNPR lost themselves in laughter and smiles having overcome an ordeal that would have pushed even veteran Huntsmen to the brink.

* * *

His right arm still wrapped in bandages, and garbed in a pair of loose fitting blank pants that fluttered in the wind with a simple white shirt with the Konoha leaf printed on it, Naruto sat and stared out at the countless graves his clones had made. The graves of his clan.

However as he blankly stared out into the horizon part of him felt some form of catharsis knowing they now had proper graves instead of being left to rot in the elements. The other part of him was deeply saddened as he realized that this was not only what was left of his family and name, but what was left of the shinobi era as a whole. It said something when the last remaining memoir of an age rife with hatred, war, death, and petty jealousy was a battlefield littered with the decaying corpses of not just his clan, but of several other village's shinobi and kunoichi as well.

This is how future generations had remembered them. This would be his friends' only experience and memories with a shinobi village. This was it. A barren wasteland that nature was now fighting to reclaim.

He and the others had spent some time wandering the village and collecting a few artifacts - all of which he deemed ok to take - and he had personally found a few keepsakes, a few jutsu scrolls, and a few Fūinjutsu scrolls detailing some of the higher seals and even still he couldn't wipe away the truth.

This is what the shinobi era had amounted to. The horrid state humanity found itself in, fighting against monstrous beasts of Nature's making and holed up in a handful of "safe" zones like Vale, fighting to survive; it was the fault of his era, the fault of Akatsuki no doubt, and the fault of the shinobi villages.

Despite his best efforts and the efforts of his friends, the wheel of hatred had kept turning after his departure.

A gentle hand on his shoulder, roused Naruto from his depressing thoughts. The blond turned to see the concerned eyes of his partner and friend staring back at him. Behind her stood Nora and Ren, each wearing their own faces of worry. Seeing them, it finally clicked.

Even though he had failed to stop it, he and the others had managed to do some good and at least slow the turning wheels of hatred. Humanity now stood united in its efforts to survive, to strive for a better world. Evidently they had taken the best parts of the Shinobi era and learned from the mistakes. No longer did they cut themselves off from the other based solely on some lines on a map. No more was there a need for secrecy, lies, and espionage. The only ones who had need of such things were those in the criminal business, and even then the greater good stood as a united front against even them.

Neither Grimm nor human would destroy what the people of the last few decades had strived to create, to rebuild from the ashes of the old guard.

There were still things to be improved, the relationship between humans and Faunus coming to mind, but Naruto would finish what he had started. It may be a few thousand years later, but he would make sure that the dreams of his Godfather, of Nagato, of Sarutobi-jiji _(Grandpa Sarutobi), _and all of those that had put their faith in him were fully realized.

He would end the cycle of hatred once and for all. That was his promise, and as his nindo - his way of life - dictated, he would make damn sure it happened or his name wasn't Naruto Uzumaki, son to Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, Jinchūriki to Kurama the Kyūbi no Kitsune, and shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato.

Rising to his feet with a burning fire in his eyes, Naruto smiled at his team and gave them a silent nod. For a moment, the others were stunned as they could almost feel the waves of determination and passion that now radiated off of their captain.

Peering into his eyes, Ren thought to himself, _'It's like he's found a new resolve, a reason to fight. So, this is who you really are Naruto? Huh, guess me and Nora better start training even harder...troublesome.'_

* * *

"If I didn't have a few years of service as a Huntsman myself, I probably would have taken off and left you lot after that first big explosion!" A grinning pilot remarked as the group of six neared the landing sight.

It had been a few days since the whole Nevermore fiasco and the team, even Naruto, were more than eager to get back to civilization. The whole first few days had been a whirlwind and left most of them physically and mentally exhausted. Spending a few days rummaging through the rubble and dilapidated buildings had allowed them time to rest and recover, but everyone was sorely missing the creature comforts of Beacon.

Stepping onto the plane, the others turned to see Naruto staring out at the island, a distant look in his eyes. Finally a firm frown set on his face and he turned to regard his foxy companion. Through a conversation that only the two of them were privy too, they both seemed to reach some sort of agreement.

Naruto walked to a seemingly random tree nearby and they all watched curiously as he bit into his finger and smeared the blood across the tree trunk. A seal briefly lit up before fading away, but that was the only thing of note. Nothing else happened as the blond boarded the Bullhead.

Shrugging it off, the pilot continued to go through the necessary checks to make sure they were ready to make the long trip back to Remnant's mainland.

"And what was the purpose of that, if you don't mind my asking, Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto said nothing, merely maintaining a serious, almost sorrowful, frown as he gazed out at the island. As the roar of the engines coming to life spiked, Oobleck was ready to ask once more. However they all got the answer when violent tremors began to shake the island. Panicked, the pilot quickly kicked the aircraft into gear and began to lift off the ground.

Looking out either of the machine's open doors, the group watched in horror as the island of Uzu no Kuni was victim to a massive island wide quake, the strength of which was quickly destroying what remained of the village as well as fracturing the very island into pieces.

Horrified, Panathenaia turned to a frowning Naruto and shouted over the roar of the engines, "What did you do!?"

With a grim sense of finality to his tone, Naruto spoke, "What should have been done already, destroying the last traces of an age of hatred and death."

Loud gasps drew the brunette professor's attention back outside only for her to watch as one of the whirlpools that gave the village and island country its namesake grew in size and begin to consume the island, dragging the entire land mass down into the watery depths below.

Beyond furious, Panathenaia turned and roared, "And what gave you the right to do that!? You've just destroyed hundreds of priceless artifacts! Not only that, you've sabotaged decades of research and learning! That island held the answer to questions that scientists have dedicated their whole lives to! And now all of it is in vain!"

Naruto met the woman's anger with a cold visage of his own, "What gives me the right? That island is mine to do with as I please by right of birth. I am the sole heir of Uzushio and her secrets and as such I've decided that her secrets and the secrets of that era will go where they ought to be, beyond the reach of anyone who would dare try to misuse them." Calming himself with a breath, the Jinchūriki turned away, "Besides, I've allowed you and Professor Oobleck to take enough relics and translated journals to satisfy most historians."

The Huntress was stopped from making another scathing remark by a surprisingly serious Oobleck, "Ms. Panathenaia, Mr. Uzumaki is correct. As the heir to the clan and village, he held every right to forbid us from even coming here in the first place. However, he instead allowed us to see his ancestral home as well excavate a number of priceless tomes and artifacts, all without asking for anything in return. More than that, he is more than likely right about the secrets. From what we've gleamed that era was less than pleasant and I for one do not wish to further explore just how cruel of a world it was. There are just certain things man is not meant to know."

Properly cowed, but still far from happy, the brunette woman huffed and turned away, busying herself with something in her pack.

Meanwhile, Naruto's teammates, being far more privy to the reality of the world their friend had lived through, couldn't blame him for doing what he had. It was like an attempt to wipe the board clean. He wasn't destroying some monument or something. He was removing what he viewed to be a blight on the world. And they were inclined to agree.

They had no problems with Naruto wielding all the power he did. He was Naruto and that was enough reason to not doubt that he wouldn't use his strength for good. However they shivered in fear when imagining someone like Torchwick or that woman they had faced on the docks getting ahold of a jutsu scroll or something.

* * *

A very long and somewhat tense ride later saw a very relieved Team NNPR stepping out onto the grounds of Beacon Academy with smiles on their faces.

Stretching out his arms behind his head and grinning, Naruto sighed, "Ah! Feels good to be back!"

"We'll look what the fox dragged in!"

Turning around, all of team NNPR were greeted by the smiling faces of team RWBY, a grinning Yang having made the terrible pun.

"So, how long has she been working on that one?" Naruto asked teasingly.

Giggling at her pouting sister, Ruby pretend whispered back, "The whole week you've been gone."

The two teams shared a good laugh at the expense of the bombshell blonde before the inevitable happened.

"What happened to your arm!?" Weiss shouted as she took in the bandaged state of the former shinobi's right arm. Luckily, no one questioned why Weiss was the first to notice, far too busy interrogating the now nervous team captain.

"Oh! Oh! You shoulda seen it! We were shooting at this huge Nevermore that could use wind blades! And then it was all like 'Graaah!' and made this big tornado! But before it could even get close to us, Naruto was all like 'I got this!' and then his eyes changed color and he used that super cool wind swirly star of doom thing and stopped it! But he said he messed up and didn't do it right so his arm got all...blegh," Nora animatedly explained to a stunned team RWBY.

Wide eyed, the four girls turned to Ren, expecting him to explain what had actually happened as was the norm. Said raven haired teen shrugged, "She's not lying this time."

"You idiot!" Was Yang's only warning before she clobbered her fellow blond with a rather nasty bop on his head.

"But wait, don't you heal super fast or something?" Ruby asked curiously.

Still running his head in pain, Naruto spoke, "Yeah, but the Rasenshuriken is a pretty powerful technique. When someone is hit by it, it kinda 'pops' and unleashes a million microscopic blades of wind that tear into the victim. When I first made it, I couldn't really form the shell right and so I'd end up just as messed up as the person I was using it on. I got it down pat now, but when I used during the battle, it was rush job so I had to skip some steps to get it up in time."

"As intriguing as that is, it still doesn't explain why you're still hurt unless this all just happened today or something," Weiss stated.

"Well because of how small the blades of wind are, the jutsu actually cuts into my nervous system and chakra network. Kurama says that pretty much recreating my entire arm from the ground up is pretty hard," Naruto explained.

Catching on, Blake joined in, "So Kurama is pretty much making an entirely new nervous system in your arm?"

Seeing as how they were relatively alone, said Kitsune decided to speak up, "Pretty much. Since the dumbass here has done this before, I have a little practice and neither his chakra system or nervous system were as damage as before. Even still it's probably going to be at least another day or so until he can mold chakra or even use his arm properly without it stinging like a bitch."

As the group of teens continued to discuss team NNPR's foray to Naruto's ancestral home, Professors Panathenaia and Oobleck were reporting to Ozpin and Glynda.

Looking down at the courtyard bellwether where he could see the teens laughing, the headmaster of Beacon succinctly summed up what his employees had told him, "So, Uzushio now lays beneath the waves, lost to future generations?" Pausing the silver haired man seemed to mull over the thought before nodding, "A good call."

Both of the female professors were shocked at how easily their boss dismissed the fact that a hotbed of archaeological finds and history was so easily lost to them, at the call of someone they considered a child no less.

"You can't be serious! He had no right!" Panathenaea argued.

Glynda was all too happy to support the younger woman, "I must agree. Mr. Uzumaki's actions were irrational, uncalled for, and highly irresponsible. He could not possibly understand what he has cost not just the historical community, but mankind at large."

Taking a sip from his ever present mug, Ozpin calmly replied, "I must disagree. I'd say his decision was well within his rights as the proper owner of Uzushio, not only that, but it was a call made with wisdom beyond his years. Like Bartholomew has said before, that time of our history as humans was colored with death, war, and an almost unending cycle of hatred. What little we know of that time has been enough to steer us away from repeating the sins of our forefathers and I fear that anymore knowledge will have us falling back on those ways. We will simply have to content ourselves with what we know now and what young Naruto has allowed us to find."

Huffing, Panathenaia accepted defeat and muttered, "If you'll excuse me, I have some calls to make as well as artifacts to inspect."

"Ah! Yes! I have many colleagues that would love to get their hands on the items we've retrieved! Time waits for no one!" And without pause, the frazzled green haired professor was out the door, Olive following at a much more sedate pace.

Glynda joined her long time friend and technical boss in gazing out at the courtyard below as students went about their day. Her eyes were drawn to the ever growing group of friends that seemed to gravitate towards a certain blond mystery, the older Team CFVY having joined the group. She raised a delicate brow upon seeing the older team captain deliver a resounding slap to the back of Naruto's head.

"That boy is hiding things. Even you have to admit that he knows far too much about an age that people decades his senior have spent their lives researching."

"And until he reveals to us why that is, I will do nothing to hinder the boy. Alone he will grow to be a Huntsman of great strength and will bring much needed changes to this world of ours. His influence and ties to people like the Schnee heiress, Taiyang's daughters, and even Ms. Nikos, has yielded nothing but good, for both himself as well as them. Have you not noticed?" Taking a break to sip his coffee, Ozpin turned to address his friend, "Ms. Belladonna is far happier now than she has been since stepping foot in Beacon. He has tempered Ms. Schnee's arrogance and selfish tendencies. His own team has risen far above what has been thought possible for a group of fresh trainees. Glynda, they combated a Grimm that was more than likely older than this very institute and not only managed to deal a heavy amount of damage without the involvement of our two highly trained and experienced Huntsmen, but also did what Bartholomew and Olive could not and defeated it."

Turning back to watch as Naruto smiled and laughed alongside his friends, looking like a normal teenager, Ozpin actually smiled, a small one, but it was a smile all the same, "That boy will do great things, that I am sure of. I, for one, can not wait to see what he does next."

* * *

A showered and rested team NNPR were all more than happy to embrace the comfort of their beds. Nora was instantly out, Ren quietly following afterwards. After a hug and "Good night," Pyrrha joined her teammates in the realm of Morpheus.

However Naruto felt the sudden need to fiddle with the scroll he had been given by Beacon upon passing initiation. He had totally forgot about the odd piece of technology and had only ever used it a small handful of times. However he had earned the ire of team RWBY today when they said they had sent a number of messages to said scroll in an attempt to see what was going on with him and his team. When he told them that he had totally forgotten about the thing he had received another smack upside the head from Yang and a lecture from Weiss on its uses and his lack of responsibility.

Going through it and learning how to use the odd combination of his era's tech and this highly advanced era's was somewhat tasking, but he was nothing if not a quick learner. Soon he was navigating through the scroll and its various functions with ease, smiling upon reading the messages he had received. Yang went from casually curious to furious with him "ignoring her" while in contrast her sister went from bubbly to extremely worried. Blake's messages were a rather confusing mix between the two sisters. They started off modest enough, and when she realized he wasn't responding turned equal parts highly concerned and coldly indifferent.

Done with that, Naruto decided to browse the news section to see if they had missed anything important while they were gone.

The headline "Torchwick strikes again, who is his shadowy partner?" had him frowning. Knowing exactly who the article was talking about, Naruto was forced to realize that although Cinder was rather intent on getting him to help her, she wasn't going to simply put a halt on all her plans and wait for him to give her a straight answer. Reading further into the article, the blond was relieved to find that no one was hurt in the mess and only a few shipments of Dust had been stolen.

_'Enough, even you need to rest, especially if you want me to have your arm in working condition faster,' _Echoed the gruff voice of his Bijū partner.

Realizing that the mass of chakra was right, Naruto rolled up the scroll and set it on his nightstand, rolling over into a more comfortable position to finally get some much needed sleep.

* * *

**AN: **So I know some people will inevitably question why Olive's last name changes spelling. Well to be up front...apparently my devices can't agree on what the proper spelling is. My iPad says it's spelled Panathenaia. Google laughs and says no. My phone joins the madness sometimes. So if you see it spelled a few different ways, blame technology.

I've honestly not much to say, but later today my cover of the Bleach songs One and Chokkaku mashed up will be going up in my YouTube channel so go check it if that's your thing.

In news related to this story, I'm gonna try and get back on schedule with updates every other Thursday.

In other news, I will hopefully be posting that new-ish story later today, so keep an eye out!

Hope y'all have a good one!

Until next chapter!

PEACE


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: **AYY YO! Welcome back to another chapter of Remnant's Maelstrom Shinobi!

If you're not already aware, I'd like to let y'all know that BlackMagic622 has taken the time to release a Reading style fic of this here story so if you enjoy this story then head on over to their page and leave em some love! You guys are pretty awesome like that so do it!

The other thing is I've uploaded the first chapter to my...second?...third?...uh...another attempt at the Naruto and Highschool DxD crossover genre. This take is a complete departure from the two I had out previously. So far it's gotten rather generous reviews and such so go check that out if that's your cup of tea.

Now time for Comments/Concerns/Questions!

**Q: **Why destroy Uzu? Couldn't he have locked it up again? How'd he know how to destroy it?

**A: **I honestly didn't know what I was going to have happen with Uzushio until I started writing the end of the arc. As it kept going, it all seemed to flow and so I went with it. Looking back I still think it was a good call. Why not just lock it back up? I've personally grown a little tired of the cliche of Naruto rebuilding Uzu. I get it, it makes sense, but to me, Naruto seems to be more of the person whose home is where his precious people are. It was also a very cathartic act of letting go of his past and marching towards a new day with his friends at his side. As for knowing how to activate the "self destruct seal", it'll come up this chapter.

**C: **If Naruto is trying to get rid of the knowledge of shinobi, what about himself?

**A: **this was a pretty common counter to having Uzu destroyed, but as previously stated, the shinobi style and powers will die with him. Will he teach it to his kids? Will his children even have access to chakra? All questions that will be answered whenever I decide to end this. But others raised another point, there are still many remnants (huehue) from that age: the other Akatsuki rings, the other major villages, and such. So hey, give me a minute haha.

**C: **The fight with the Nevermore

**A: **Most were satisfied with how I went about writing that, but not all were. I even received a few messages asking why I went out of my way to have Naruto struggle. Here's the deal, I had some serious trouble writing this for two reasons 1) it was an aerial opponent versus a ground opponent and 2) it was a group of four on one side. I'll be the first to admit that I am severely lacking in living up to the fast paced and highly reactive style that RWBY characters are known for. Those season two fights? Fucking bonkers. Even the initial fight during Players and Pieces where they formed the teams is fucking insane. That shit is hard to put into words without having to describe every minute detail. However if I were to do so, it would no doubt bore a whole lotta people, never mind doing that for four separate characters with their own unique styles. STILL, I am trying my best to get better at it, which will be evidenced in these next few chapters.

Now I'd like to take the time to thank both BuzzTech and DEBob19 who both left rather poignant critiques. Neither came at an angle of "I think this is wrong so I'll rant and rave and cuss you at cuz Internet and 'Merica!" which is something I appreciate. They both eloquently voiced their opinions on what I've done and honestly got me thinking. They opened the floor for discussion and debate, a back and forth conversation, not a one sided one. So a special thank you to the both of you and worry not, I took some time to think about what both of you have said (BuzzTech especially) and am now striving to fix it and make it that much better.

Thank you to all the people who continue to review, let's see if we can't reach 2000!

Story time ~

* * *

Garbed in his usual sleepwear of a tank top and gym shorts, both which bore the symbol of his home village, Naruto found himself enjoying the calm serenity of a late night spent atop one of Beacon's higher structures, a certain raven haired Faunus dressed in her own sleepwear and seated to his right. Their spending time together in such a manner was quickly becoming something of a ritual for them, and neither could complain.

Of course this time was a little different seeing as how the usually level headed Blake was glaring daggers at him with her amber eyes. Sweating nervously, Naruto absently wondered if agreeing to meet her was a bad idea after all. Then again, seeing as how he and his team had arrived back from their mission to Uzu just in time to enjoy the weekend, due to his wounded state he had the options of sitting in his room and going stir crazy from boredom or actually being able to get out and get some fresh air. Being as hyperactive as he was, he chose the second option.

"You are simultaneously the dumbest and smartest person I know," Blake icily commented.

Knowing she was referring to his still recovering arm, Naruto could only grin nervously and scratch behind his head, "Uh, thanks?"

Shaking her head, Blake continued, "Honestly, throwing yourself in front of a tornado with a half formed technique as your only defense? What were you thinking?"

Naruto shrugged carelessly, "I was thinking I had to save my friends. If I didn't do that, then they could have been hurt even worse than before and as team captain, I can't let that happen."

Seeing the conviction in his cerulean orbs, the young cat Faunus sighed. She knew Naruto was the type to jump headfirst into any situation regardless of the danger it posed to him if it meant he could protect those close to him. It was something she admired about him, but seeing the bandaged state of his arm reminded her that he wasn't some all powerful entity. He was human - albeit with a huge chakra construct bound to him and unique powers - and could be hurt just like her or anyone else.

Deciding to steer the conversation away from such morbid thoughts of mortality, Blake turned her gaze back to the starry sky above, "So how much longer until you're healed? Ruby and Yang have been getting pretty impatient and want to have that match with you guys, especially after Ruby heard from Nora about what you did to your weapon."

Laughing at the mental image of the younger teen excitedly bouncing around like a bunny on a sugar high, Naruto replied, "Kurama said I'd be good to start doing some excercises by tomorrow, so the day after that I should be good as new and ready to kick your butts -ttebayo!"

The two shared a laugh at the cheesiness of Naruto's bravado before allowing a comfortable silence to descend upon them, neither feeling a need to speak and simply enjoying the other's presence. Idly, Naruto wondered how some of his pseudo-family would have reacted to seeing him now, quiet and enjoying the peace and quiet of the night alone with a girl.

The blond cracked a smile imagining both Jiraiya and Kakashi cheering him on before Tsunade clobbered the both of them for being perverts.

Blake was lost in her own thoughts, worry gnawing at her. Her teammates had become increasingly suspicious that she was hiding something from them, which was the truth, but she had no clue how to approach them. It had been easy with Naruto. He just exuded this aura that made it so easy for you to share your woes and worries. With him, it had all just come tumbling out. Not only that, his own past of being a pariah due to his Jinchūriki status had given them an even ground which made it even easier.

She knew her teammates weren't at all adverse to Faunus and probably wouldn't treat her any differently, evidenced by Naruto's revealing of his "Faunus" nature. Even after learning that was a half truth and that he was actually a living cage for a being of untold power hadn't changed how they saw him. Sure they were all a little more than angry that he had lied in the first place, but that was quick to fade after learning why he had done so.

Still, the crux of the matter lay with how to start the conversation. Naruto had pretty much been forced to own up to his status each time due to outside circumstances. So far she was lucky that no such thing had happened to her, but a feeling in her gut told her that if she didn't do this on her own, her hand would be forced by something or someone.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?"

The soft rumbling tone of Naruto's voice tore Blake from her thoughts. Looking up, she saw warm oceanic orbs calmly staring back. Smiling, she was happy not for the first time to have someone who knew her struggles so well, someone who was willing to help her at her own pace and not simply throw her into the proverbial deep end.

Briefly she wondered what could have happened had Naruto never been thrown into the future, her present, and joined Beacon. Considering how vital a person Naruto was to the past, the world as she knew it would no doubt have been drastically different. Would the help of someone as strong as Naruto been the key piece to keeping the shinobi era alive?

Before her mind could delve into the what ifs and the whole multiverse theory, Blake voiced her troubles, "I want to tell the others, but I don't know how to approach it."

Knowing what she meant, Naruto hummed in thought. He could definitely see why it was troubling Blake. Even he could see that team RWBY was growing closer, as they should, and there would inevitably come a time when she would have to tell her teammates. Her telling them first without being forced to would definitely soften the blow.

"How did you tell your friends?" Blake asked curiously.

Naruto laughed nervously, "Well I didn't. They all kinda figured it out for themselves or were told by someone else."

The young cat Faunus sighed, _'Well there goes that.'_

"But!" Blake turned to see Naruto with a huge grin on his face, "I know that you're smart and that Ruby, Yang, and Weiss will still be your friends no matter what. Shizune-nee told me that sometimes you just have to do it, that it's like removing a bandaid. The faster you do it, the less painful it'll be."

Allowing a soft chuckle to escape her lips, Blake found herself surprised yet again by the simplistic logic Naruto seemed to use to guide him through life. Sure, part of her knew that it was a rather naive way of thinking, however she also knew that said logic was tempered by his own upbringing and life. Somehow, it worked. And right now, that's all that really mattered.

* * *

"Rasengan!"

Naruto found himself grinning at the destruction caused by his and his father's signature technique. Flexing the fingers and muscles on his right hand, his grin only grew larger. His arm was almost back up to a hundred percent.

He had woken up this morning with Kurama telling him that the nerves and chakra pathways in his arm were finally done being fixed/made and that he was cleared to use it again. Without a word to his team, he had sped off to the Emerald Forest and got to work getting the arm back up to snuff. A few chakra control exercises later with some stretching and generous use of his signature clone technique, and Naruto was happy to say that it was like he had never viciously mutilated his arm in the first place!

Unsealing a bottle of water, a few pieces of parchment, a brush, black ink, and a few of the Fūinjutsu journals he had collected from Uzushio, Naruto plopped himself down underneath the shade of a tree. Now it was time to see if his arm still had the dexterity and penmanship needed to draw seals.

Dipping the brush into the ink pot, Naruto breathed in and calmed himself, mentally preparing himself for the task ahead. While he wasn't a novice or anything, he knew that despite him gaining back the use of his arm, it had been a few days of not using it and so it was possible his penmanship had taken a hit in that time.

A few storage seals and explosive notes later though and Naruto was happy to see that wasn't the case at all. Turning to the journal he had randomly picked out, Naruto raised a brow upon seeing the title.

_Jutsu Sealing_

Having been the apprentice to Jiraiya of the Sennin, a world renowned seals masters only bested by his student who was also Naruto's father and those of the Uzumaki blood, Naruto was well aware of the ability to seal away even jutsu. Heck, the first time he'd seen it done was when Jiraiya had to seal away the flames of Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu _(Heavenly Illumination)_, a fire jutsu unique to the Uchiha clan and their Sharingan that was said to be the very flames of hell itself, burning for seven days and seven nights. It was also said that the flames could not be extinguished by any means other than the caster willing it.

If such a powerful jutsu could be sealed, then so could any other jutsu, right? However as Naruto began to scan the pages of the journal, he realized that his clan hadn't just come up with a way to seal away any and all jutsu, but how to store it in such a way that it could be used at a later time.

Instantly, Naruto's mind began to race through all the possibilities. If he could learn this particular seal, with some tweaking, he could essentially outfit his friends with an arsenal of jutsu that they could unleash if need be. It would be like an insurance policy. If they ever ran into some form of trouble on their own and he wasn't around, it could be their ace in the hole.

However, before Naruto went about working on it, a thought struck him. He was trying to make sure that no else had the same power he did, the same power that had turned the shinobi era into a time of war, greed, and hatred. If he did this, he would be contradicting that. Not only that, if word got out about people other than him being able to cast jutsu, questions would be asked. Either some people would figure out how to manufacture what he was doing, or even go so far as to try and steal it from him.

As it was now, if he was the only one capable of being able to cast jutsu, he could simply write it off as it being his Semblance like he first had. In that way he would be able to stop people from the get. Semblance were unique, they were the representations of one's own soul. They could not be taught or made.

"ARGH! Why does this have to be so difficult!?" Naruto shouted aloud, pulling at his hair in frustration.

He was by no means a dumb person, he just wasn't smart in the same way that people like Weiss, Ren, and Pyrrha were. He was more of a hands on, practical knowledge kind of guy. He was more than happy to admit that when it came to philosophical debates and the like, he was all thumbs. That was the kind of stuff he had let people like Shikamaru take care of and worry about.

Deciding to save himself the headache and stress, Naruto decided to put those thoughts to the side and focus on something he excelled at, training.

Of course that plan was quickly derailed when a certain bubbly teammate of his suddenly appeared in his face without warning. Surprised by Nora's sudden appearance, Naruto screamed like a little girl and fell on his ass.

Grinning and either ignoring or being oblivious to the fact that she had almost given her captain a heart attack at age seventeen, Nora cheered, "I found you, I found you, I found you!~"

Gripping his chest, Naruto began to shout at his teammate, "What the heck Nora!? What was that for!?"

The young woman, currently prancing around her captain replied in that same cheery voice, "Everyone was looking for you of course! And since I managed to find you first, Ren promised me we would go to that new pancake house that opened up in Vale!"

Having finally collected his breath, and wits, Naruto sighed, "But that doesn't mean you had to scare me half to death."

Nora pouted, "Not my fault you were being all 'I'm super serious and stuff!' like when you found that ring."

Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop, "Was I really doing that again?"

"Mhmm!"

Stretching out his arms, Naruto began to gather his gear and seal it up, "Well I guess we should head back now, don't need Yang on my case again."

"So what were you working on?" Nora asked curiously as they began the trek back to their dorm.

"Something that could let you guys use jutsu like I do," Naruto revealed. He felt no need to lie, she was his teammate and friend and there should be no lies or secrets between them.

"Nope!"

Raising a brow at her answer, Naruto asked, "What?"

Nora shrugged her shoulders, "Well it wouldn't make sense! You're the one who does all that cool breathing fire and stuff! I beat em up with Magnahild, Ren uses his Kung Fu stuff, and Pyrrha is all cool! If you gave us those jitsu things it wouldn't be the same! Besides you already gave us those cool scroll things. I've been able to stash away so many pancakes with them!"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the rather simplistic answer. While it wasn't exactly the epiphany or moral answer he was looking for, it served to remind him that, like him, his teammates weren't the type of people to take handouts or shortcuts. If he gave them access to such a destructive force like jutsu, sure they'd be stronger for it, but it wouldn't be their strength, it would be his. He'd be cheating them out of the pride of knowing that whatever triumphs and victories they got, it would be earned through their own hard work, not because he gave them a scroll that fired off ten dragons of fire.

Smiling Naruto turned and looked at Nora, "It's jutsu, but you're right. It wouldn't be the same, would it?"

In response, Nora once more invaded his personal space bubble, only to poke him on the chest. Turning, the excitable teen was off in sprint shouting over her shoulder, "Tag you're it!"

A grin split Naruto's face, "Bad idea Nora! I'm the king of tag!"

* * *

"Pretty please Naruto!"

"Nope."

"Plllleeeeeeaaasseee!"

"Na uh."

"Please please please please please please-"

"No, no, no, no, and nope."

"But I just wanna touch it! Once! Maybe test it out..."

"Hmm...yea-No."

The students of Beacon, by now accustomed to the strangeness of Teams NNPR and RWBY, paid no mind as the two captains of the aforementioned teams strolled by with their lunch trays, the younger of the two following behind the older one with the look of a child who had been denied a toy.

Of course, considering who it was and what it was they were talking about, that wasn't too far from the truth.

Seating themselves with the rest of their friends, Yang shook her head upon seeing her younger sister crying crocodile tears, "Still pestering you about your weapon, Foxy?"

Said whiskered teen slurped up the noodles in his mouth before nodding his head, "Mhmm. She's persistent, I'll give her that."

"That's how she got uncle Qrow to teach her how to use a scythe," Yang explained. Taking a sip from her cup, the blonde continued, "Kept pestering him with those puppy eyes for almost a week straight before the poor man caved."

"Why am I still surprised at how childish she can be?" Weiss remarked coldly.

Naruto raised a brow before grinning mischievously, "Kettle, meet pot."

Laughs and giggles erupted from the others as the Schnee heiress glared daggers at the former shinobi, "And what's that supposed to mean!?"

The teenage Jinchūriki merely waved his hands in faux protest, "Mah, mah, no need to get so defensive. I mean, it's not like you pout when things don't go your way or anything, right?"

The snickering around the table only grew louder while Weiss huffed and turned her head away, "I have no idea what you're talking about, pouting is beneath someone of my stature. I was merely...expressing my displeasure with the situation."

Not being able to resist the temptation, Blake joined in, "By pouting?"

Instead of responding, the young heiress, crossed her arms and turned her head away, "Hn."

Naruto almost choked on his saliva upon hearing that unmistakable sound. As Pyrrha worriedly patted him on the back, Naruto had to stifle the almost automatic urge to cry "Teme!".

_'Geez, maybe Weiss is related to Sasuke or something. No way anybody, BUT an Uchiha could 'hn' like that,' _Naruto concluded, managing to clear his air pathways at last.

Brushing off those thoughts, Naruto turned his head upon hearing yet another familiar sound, the click of heels on the polished floors of Beacon's cafeteria. Long raven tresses and burning amber eyes greeted him, and not for the first time, Naruto was confused about how he should feel about seeing Cinder Fall.

On the one hand, she was a dangerous femme fatale hell bent on achieving her goal through any means necessary which was usually cause enough for him to put people on his shit list. However it was what said goal was that gave him pause. She wasn't bent on something stupid like world domination. No, honestly what she wanted was something that he could empathize with. Sure he didn't exactly agree with her methods, but hey past experience had shown him that his way of doings wasn't without its own faults and stumblings.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed out as he felt something poke him in his side. Turning around, he found a Neopolitan waving with a not so innocent smile on her face. "How the heck do you do that!?"

As the others laughed at his misfortune, the booming voice of his Bijū partner echoed in his mind, _'Illusions. I thought we were simply allowing our guard to slip the past few times, but now I know for sure that's not the case. I was on full alert and yet she still managed to get passed my senses. I'd watch it, her Semblance seems to be able to allow her to create illusions strong enough to elude even my senses, which should be damn near impossible.'_

While externally, Naruto was childishly pouting, internally his mind was racing a mile a minute. Genjutsu _(Illusionary techniques) _had always been Naruto's weakest point because he simply had way too much damn chakra to control, which was the key point of the art. The more subtle you were with how you were influencing someone, then the harder it was for them to tell they were even in an illusion in the first place. The density and overwhelming amount of chakra he had did not lend to such finesse.

On the other side of the coin though, having such massive reserves made it a little easier for him to purge himself of any illusion bar those of the highest quality and power. Even then, since Kurama was both an internal and external force, the Bijū could easily break his container out of even the strongest of illusions.

However for Neo to be able to slip past even Kurama's senses meant her Semblance allowed her to create some pretty powerful illusions.

"So where have you four been? As soon as Naruto and his team left, you guys like disappeared," Yang commented.

"Neo had some family affairs to take care of," Cinder supplied without falter. Seeing as how no one was going to further question her, the slender beauty turned her gaze to the blond former shinobi, "If you don't mind, I have something I want to talk to you about, alone."

Hearing the emphasis she had put on the word "alone", Blake and Pyrrha felt themselves grow ill at ease. However they weren't the only ones.

_'There's something off about her! I don't know what it is, but this girl just gives me all the wrong vibes,' _a contemplative Yang thought.

While outwardly not showing any signs of his suspicious, Naruto shrugged, "Sure, I have a free period today after lunch anyways."

When the two left, a very awkward silence settled over the remaining members of teams NNPR, CMNE, and the whole of team RWBY. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all got along just fine with the all girl team and would even go as far as to say they were friends, however none of them were all that comfortable with the members of team CMNE.

Mercury just came off as a - in Yang's words - "compete tool", while Emerald simply rubbed everyone the wrong way. Neo was possibly the only exception, but seeing as how she never talked, it only made sense. Well at least that was how mostly everyone felt towards the diminutive girl. Ruby however did not at all care for heterochromic eyed girl for reasons all her own. Reason enough for her to glare daggers at the ice cream themed girl, who was simply returning the glare with a taunting smirk.

Emerald was the one to break the silence when she huffed, "Screw this, I'm gonna go do something actually worth my time."

Without another word, the mint haired teen was gone. Mercury simply gave what he thought to be a charming smile and tried to sit next Pyrrha, "Sorry about her attitude."

Unknown to him, a small runic circle blinked into existence right underneath where his butt would touch the seat. Right as his cheeks touched the array, the silver haired teen was sent rolling back through the doors of the cafeteria.

Pyrrha turned and gave a thankful smile towards Weiss, having seen the array of glyphs, "Thanks Weiss, I owe you."

The Schnee heiress waved off the thanks, "No need to thank me, that guy's just a slime ball and I wouldn't want him sitting next to any of us."

Their attention was drawn to the last remaining member of Cinder's team. Seeing both her and RWBY's team captain locked in a heated stare down, they couldn't help but sigh. Both were trying their best to look intimidating, which was normally not that hard - Ruby used a massive scythe that was also a high calibre sniper rifle and Neo could unnerve most with a smile -, but right now they looked far more adorable than they did scary.

Before the feared Moe Wars had a second crusade, Neo blew Ruby a raspberry and walked off with a spring in her step.

Seeing her nemesis walk off, Ruby pouted, "I don't like her."

The rest of the group could only laugh or sigh.

* * *

"So what exactly did you need to talk to me alone about?" Naruto asked, following only slightly behind Cinder, letting the woman lead the way.

Without missing a beat, the amber eyed woman replied, "I like the headband. Pick it up on your trip to your home village?"

A grin broke out across Naruto's whiskered cheeks as he casually folded his arms behind his head, "Uzushio isn't MY home village, and by the way, my godfather and mentor was my home's spy master and ran a network that stretched even into enemy territory. Gonna have to do a little better than some misdirection if you wanna fool me."

"Really? Thanks for letting me know all that."

Naruto had to resist the very strong urge to smack himself. He had just given up two pieces of information without her even having to ask. While Jiraiya really had been possibly the best spy master in the history of the shinobi era, having spies in every shinobi village - major and minor, Naruto had never really gotten the time to learn the tools of that specific trade and had only picked up the bare minimum.

He could almost feel the victorious smirk currently stretched across Cinder's face, making him feel all the more foolish.

"What I wanted to talk to you about, more ask, was, have you made up your mind regarding my question all those weeks ago?" Cinder finally revealed.

Naruto couldn't help the grimace that flashed across his face. He really hadn't put much thought into if he would help Cinder or not. To be fair though, he had been rather preoccupied with other things to really spare the time to do so.

Taking a hand through his hair, he expressed as much to the woman.

Arriving at a secluded balcony, Cinder seemed completely unfazed, "I see. And what if I continue to go through with my plans?"

Naruto frowned in thought, "Why? Why do you feel like this is the only way to achieve your goal?"

"You know very well why. You've seen it and as you continue to do missions for those fools on the council, you will see more. You can't deny that I'm right, Naruto."

"You're right, I can't deny it. I've seen it my whole life, hell I was a victim of it. I lost friends and family, because I was too stubborn to do what had to be done, so I can't say my way is any better than yours, BUT that doesn't make it right either. Think about it, is your goal really worth alienating those around you, shutting yourself away from the world? If you do achieve your goal, what then?"

Turning away from the blond, the raven haired beauty looked out at the Emerald Forest that stretched out behind Beacon, "As much as I would like to have you on my side, I won't put a stop to my plans just for you. I will continue with them, and I will achieve my goal, with or without you."

The muscles in Naruto's jaw clenched, "I don't care about you stealing stuff, but as soon as you start aiming for innocents, or try and harm any of those close to me, I WILL stop you."

To emphasize his point, Naruto began to pull on his partner's chakra, the miasmic qualities of the energy coming to life in a blazing cloak of a transparent orange flames. However unlike the response that he expected, her gasping for air or becoming at least a little scared, Cinder instead smirked.

Raising up her hand that had previously been folded underneath her bust, Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing a familiar looking silver ring wrapped around her right ring finger. To his further shock, he began to feel the ring draw his chakra away from him, as if to begin the process of taking Kurama.

Said Bijū's voice echoed through his mind, _'What the hell is going on over there!? Why can I feel something trying to drain my chakra!?'_

Snarling in anger, Naruto barked out, "Where did you get that from!?"

"Hmm? This old thing? Happened to find it in a museum, just sitting there. The color matches my dress so I took it," Cinder replied, feigning interest in the piece of jewelry.

Before Naruto could properly begin to form an attack and forcibly take the ring, Cinder casually slipped it off and carelessly tossed the artifact to him, throwing him off guard. Blinking owlishly at the ring that now sat in his palm, the blond could form no words, far too shocked by the odd turn of events.

Sauntering passed him, Cinder raked a well manicured nail across his whiskered cheek, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine, and further shocking him. The raven haired beauty's smoky voice whispering into his ear sent another shock of pleasure through his teenage body, "Think of it as a show of good faith."

Without a word more, Cinder was gone, leaving a heavily blushing and near comatose Naruto to stare blankly ahead.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the former shinobi, Cinder was lost in a myriad of her own thoughts. While she hadn't shown it before, she had been a little caught off guard to hear the conviction that Naruto spoke with. She wasn't sure how, but somehow she felt as if Naruto could empathize with her situation, with her as a person. For so many years now, she had shut herself off from the world, feeling like she didn't need...friends, only associates to help her achieve her goal.

Naruto's questions had struck her. What would she do once she got what she wanted? She had done such a good job of keeping everyone around her at arm's length and now that she was actually thinking about it, maybe she had done too good of a job. When she had first begun this journey, she knew it would be a thankless one, that she would be painted as a criminal in the eyes of most and she had long since come to accept that. The opinions of others mattered little to her.

But now, as she looked at where she currently was - no friends or family to speak of - an almost imperceptible pang tugged at her heart. She was alone, with no one to really rely on, to possibly even help her.

Was the end goal worth this price? Could she well and truly continue marching forward?

Questions she had never asked before were coming to the surface, and a blue eyed whiskered teen was at fault for them all.

* * *

"Blondie! Been awhile since we've seen you come in," a grinning Geoff greeted Naruto.

Seeing as how he and his team had expended a lot of supplies during their mission to Uzu, the blond teen had decided to take a trip to the Achievement Hunters' shop to restock. Of course he also had some other things on mind.

"Hey, Geoff! Yeah, me and my team had a mission that had us gone for a week, but we're back and need to restock on all the essentials. That and I have that new batch of sealing scrolls ready for you guys."

The tattooed store owner nodded and reached down underneath the counter, pulling out four separate sealing scrolls, each adorned with the unique symbol that each of his teammates wore - Ren with his flower, Nora with her hammer, Pyrrha's spear and shield, and his own Uzumaki spiral.

"Well, here's the usual. Gavin and Ray also threw in some crap they wanted you to test, don't ask what it is, cause I don't know or care."

Already used to Geoff's brusque manner of speaking, Naruto only chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, alright you old man, probably just forgot what it was, huh?"

"Hey! I am not that old!"

"Shut the fuck up Geoff, you know you are," came the snarky reply from the curly haired Michael. Walking out from the backroom, the foul mouthed member of the AH crew threw a head nod at Naruto, "Sup, blondie."

Said blond teen returned the gesture. Reaching into his jacket, Naruto pulled out his own sealing scroll and tossed it to the mustached store owner who caught it without blinking, "Didn't have as much time to work with my mission and all so I was only able to make a hundred this time."

"Better get your ass in gear then 'Ruto, we've been selling them quick like. Doesn't help that Gavin's been using em for stupid shit either," Michael commented.

Geoff chose to interject, "What the hell has he been using them for? I told him not to take any from the shop, damnit!"

The shorter member of AH shrugged, "Fuck if I know. I've just seen him leaving with a few in hand."

Already cursing up a storm, Geoff marched into the backroom, "Goddamnit Gavin! I told you to stop taking shit from the store!"

Naruto could only look at Michael who wore a grin on his face as they heard the accented reply, "Wot!? I haven't been taking anythin!"

"Bullshit!"

Both Naruto and Michael began to chuckle as they heard Gavin's high pitched girly screams of pain. Shaking his head, the whiskered teen asked, "He didn't take any did he?"

Michael in turn shrugged, "I don't know, but it's Gavin so he's probably done something dumb enough to deserve it anyways."

Throwing his hands behind his head, Naruto decided to do some digging while he was at the store, "So you guys know Cinder pretty well?"

Raising a brow at the odd question, Michael leaned on the counter and get comfortable, "Kind of. Both of us went to the same academy but she was in the class two years below mine. I graduated with my team and that was the last I saw of her. At least until I started working for Geoff. She just popped in one day and recognized me."

"She seem different?" Naruto asked, now highly invested. This was the most he had learned about the mysterious woman who was so bent on recruiting him and he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to learn more.

Michael seemed to think about the question before shrugging, "Well I never really knew her in the first place so I'm probably not the best person to judge, but I guess so yeah. Seemed a little more serious and refined I guess?" Getting up, the shorter male gave a friendly punch to Naruto's shoulder, "Why? Want to know if she's got a boyfriend? You dog you!"

Naruto's eyes grew comically large as he started to blush, "What? No! Shutup!"

Michael only laughed harder and shouted, "Hey guys! 'Ruto's got a crush on Cinder!"

Naruto began to bash his head on the counter top, Ray poking his head through the doorway only to comment, "Bow chicka wow wow!"

The signature cackle from Geoff only made the situation worse, as the rest of the crew could be heard making comments. The other customers in the store could only stare in wonder as a blond teen looked to be trying to split the counter top with his head as the employees all laughed derisively.

* * *

"So how long have you and Nora been friends?" Naruto questioned calmly.

Not even opening an eye to stare at his captain who was casually seated on the ceiling, Ren kept his composure and smoothly replied, "Since we were toddlers."

Stretching and assuming the proper position, the blond teen began to slowly and easily perform push ups, his muscles rippling as he simultaneously worked out his muscles and chakra control, "Really? Wow, no wonder everyone thinks you're a couple."

If Ren was caught off guard by the odd remark, he didn't show it, eyes still closed and breathing evenly paced as he continued to meditate, "It's a common misconception, yes."

Letting go of the chakra that held his hands to the ceiling, leaving the balls of his feet and toes as the only thing anchoring him to the surface, the whiskered teen began to incorporate crunches into his little work out, "Have you ever thought about it?"

"Are you trying to play matchmaker for me and Nora?"

Chuckling at being caught, Naruto continued his workout on the ceiling, "Hehe, maybe."

Taking a deep breath in, Ren slowly released it before answering, "While I appreciate the gesture, you should probably think about your own love life before attempting to help another's."

Having switched to doing squats, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki blushed, "I don't know what you mean."

"It's no use Naruto, everyone can see how attached to you Pyrrha has become. Not only that, but Blake from our friends in team RWBY has also seemed to take a liking to you as well."

Sighing, Naruto continued to go through toe touches, unimpeded, "I know! It's just, I never had to deal with all this. It was so much easier when all I had to worry about was some group of crazy powerful terrorists coming to get me."

Deciding to disregard the complete oddity of his captain's previous statement, Ren continued, "Yes, well it's something that you will eventually have to figure out, lest you alienate the both of them."

Now back to doing push ups, Naruto replied, "You know, you remind me of this guy I was friends with. Was the laziest bum I ever knew. He'd spend hours just looking up at the clouds or playing this game called Shogi, but he was the smartest guy I've ever met. Give him a few seconds and he'd have like a hundred different plans to take someone down."

"Sounds like someone I could get along with," Ren remarked.

"Yup!"

A comfortable silence overtook the two males, Naruto continuing with his workout while Ren continued to meditate, taking advantage of both Pyrrha and Nora being otherwise occupied. The two females of team NNPR were actually in the library taking care of a project they had all been assigned for Professor Oobleck's class. Pyrrha had been paired with Nora while he and Ren were lumped together.

Of course seeing as how Naruto could clone himself and Ren was quite intelligent, the two had finished their own project in one sitting.

Whatever peace the two had was quickly interrupted when they heard the sound of someone gently knocking on their door. Seeing as how Naruto was still currently stuck to their ceiling, Ren was the one to answer the door.

"Hey Blake!" Naruto happily greeted upon seeing the familiar face of team RWBY's Faunus.

Said cat Faunus' cheeks heated up upon seeing a very shirtless Naruto hanging upside down. Her reaction wasn't due to any sort of innocence, having read various "heavy romance" novels, but more due to how attractive the sight was. It wasn't that Naruto was overly buff or anything, no his muscles were tight and corded, showing his inclination towards speed and maneuverability over power. The various scars that dotted his chest and abdomen only served to enhance his "hotness", though she was slightly distracted upon noticing a particularly vicious looking scar that took up the area over his heart.

Before she could let her eyes further wander the view, the clinking of porcelain on porcelain broke her out of her hormone driven thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye, she registered Ren taking a sip of tea.

Turning back, the blush returned full force when all she saw was wall of flesh that was Naruto's abdomen, "So why'd you come over?"

Trying her damnedest to not make a fool of herself, Blake looked up into warm blue eyes of someone she was happy to consider one of, if not, her closest friends, "I...I need your help."

Naruto could see the worry as much as he could feel it emanating from the amber eyed teen, "With what?"

"I'm going to...tell them," Blake replied uneasily.

Instead of sharing in her nervousness, Naruto grinned and wrapped Blake up in a hug, "That's great Neko-chan! Of course I'll help!"

"Um...could you put on a shirt first?"

Placing a heavily blushing teen back on her feet, Naruto scratched his cheek and chuckled, "Yeah, should probably get changed. I'll be back."

Left alone, Blake began to fidget, having never really said much of anything to the other male member of team NNPR. Of course she was probably the only one feeling the slightest bit awkward, Ren calmly sipping his tea, wholly unperturbed by the recent happenings.

"...so, do you know?" Blake asked, feeling the need to finally break the awkward silence.

"About you being a Faunus? Yes."

Caught off guard by the blunt response, Blake could only ask, "How?"

"I had my suspicions, but your reaction when we found out Naruto had been lying to us about being a Faunus himself was a dead giveaway," Ren stated matter-of-factly.

Before the conversation could go any further, Naruto walked out of the restroom dressed in the school uniform, without the blazer or tie.

"You ready to do this?"

Biting her lip, Blake nonetheless nodded, "Yeah, better to get it over with now, right?"

As the door closed, leaving Ren by himself, the long haired teen released a sigh. Taking a sip from his tea, a content smile stretched across his face.

_'Ah. Finally, some peace and quiet.'_

"REN! WE'RE BACK!"

* * *

(**Omake #3: **Class time with Neo)

"And so, due to my extensive knowledge on the ferocious beasts, I was able to easily vanquish them and save the small village," Professor Port boasted.

Of course seeing as it was already halfway through his class, the students unfortunate enough to have to to suffer through the portly man's peacocking had already fallen back on their usual habits. Naruto was sound asleep, Blake was reading a book she had hidden behind her textbook, Nora was doodling away, Weiss was "taking notes" - really she was working on a project that had been assigned by an earlier class -, Pyrrha had decided to use the time to work on her Semblance, Ruby had her notebook up to cover up the fact she was sleeping, Ren was either meditating or sleeping, and Yang was flipping through a magazine she had brought with her.

Neo, who was the only member of team CMNE who had gotten Port's class alongside RWBY and NNPR, seemed to be actually paying attention.

Seeing this, Professor Port pointed at the diminutive girl and called out in a voice loud enough to gather everyone's attention, "Ms. Neopolitian! Why was my use of fire instrumental in my victory over the Grimm?"

The whole class quietly looked on as Neo made no move to answer, simply maintaining her current look. After a few minutes of pure silence, the other students expected Port to reprimand the girl, however turning back to look at said Professor, everyone was surprised to see the man nodding his head with a hand under his chin.

"Yes, correct! And extra points for the hypothetical solution of using the village's glass and coal to better help. Well done Ms. Neopolitian! If only there were more students as astute as you!"

Jaws hit the floor following that.

Not a word had left the teen's lips! Hell, her lips didn't even move in the first place!

What was going on!?

* * *

(**Omake #4: **Fear Incarnate?)

Both teams RWBY and NNPR had decided that since Naruto's hand had finally healed that they would do a little joint training. Nothing too serious, seeing as it was mostly an excuse for the two teams to merely hang out in the Emerald Forest.

The few Grimm that called the forest home would pose no threat seeing as how the eight of them were more than capable of holding their own. As a unit? Yeah no Beowulf or Ursa stood a chance.

Unknown to the two teams, an evil far greater than any Grimm or Bijū called the forest home and it had its beady eyes set on them.

"So you're telling us that you were able to graffiti pretty much an entire mountain in broad daylight, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, in a village full of highly trained assassins and warriors?" Yang questioned.

A grinning Naruto nodded his head, "Managed to evade some Jounin and Chunin after that too!"

The others burst into laughter, wondering how in the world a prepubescent boy had managed to outsmart, outrun, and out stealth a village full of supposed professionals.

"How in the world did you not end up in prison?" Weiss asked. Although she was trying to hide the fact that even she found the prank funny, everyone could see the small smirk on her lips.

With his arms still crossed behind his head, Naruto shrugged, "Eh. Our Hokage was like family to me. After he found it out he just laughed and shook his head at me and asked why I did it."

"Reminds you of the dumb stuff we used to do, huh, Yang?" Ruby asked, still chuckling slightly.

Grinning, Yang declared, "Yup! Remember when we convinced uncle Qrow that Zwei was the one who was eating all of the strawberries?"

The rest of the teens rose a brow and waited for either of the sisters to finish telling their story, wondering how they had managed to convince someone that a dog was responsible for eating strawberries, especially considering the man was related to Ruby.

"Hehe, yeah! Uncle Qrow stopped letting Zwei in the house and was going crazy trying to figure out how Zwei was finding them even after he hid them," Ruby continued.

With a grin already on his face, Naruto spoke up, "Ok, this one I gotta hear. Why and how in the world did you two pull that off?"

While the group of teens conversed, Kurama was listening to the baser instincts that came with taking on the form of a fox kit and was terrorizing the local bird and rabbit population. Seeing a black tail poking out of a nearby bush, the Bijū grinned maliciously and prepared to pounce.

Said grin fell off his furry muzzle when the owner of the tail emerged from the brush. The glowing crimson eyes, white bone like mask, and black fur made it obvious that the creature was a Grimm despite its small size. Of course the fact it was clearly feline did nothing to make it any more intimidating despite its Grimm status. However the ribbon tied to the cat-like Grimm's ear, though unusual, was something Kurama would never forget seeing. It had once been the calling card of a certain cat that had terrorized Konoha's Genin for years. In fact both Naruto and his mother had grown a hatred for the feline.

How it had lived for so long was a mystery that had puzzled even Konoha's greatest minds. The fact that it was able to evade not only Genin, but seasoned Jounin for hours at a time whilst leading its pursuers on wild hunts that left them wounded and mentally unhinged was another mystery that had surrounded Tora the Konoha no Bakaneko _(Tora the Changed/Demon Cat of Konoha)_.

Of course that had been back during the era of shinobi, an age now long gone by so there was no way that the feline Grimm starring Kurama down was in any way related to Tora….right?

Either way, without waiting a second more, Kurama turned tail and began booking it back towards his container and the others.

When a terrified Bijū rammed its way into Naruto, knocking the blond teen to the floor, everyone paused and stared in curiosity.

"IT'S HERE! RUN! RUN!"

Curiously, Naruto looked to where Kurama was pointing. For a second he saw only the glowing red eyes of a Grimm. Wondering why his partner was so afraid of some lowly Grimm, the former shinobi stared for a second longer. Upon spotting a familiar red ribbon, his eyes widened comically.

Without pausing, Naruto wrapped Kurama around his neck, summoned several clones - each grabbing one of the other teens - and sped off in the opposite direction.

Yang, riding on the back of a Naruto clone, shouted over the roar of the winds, "What are we running from!?"

Ruby, piggybacking another clone, turned to look behind her. Upon seeing the small shadowy form trailing them adorned with a red ribbon, she began to panic.

"AHHHHH! NARUTO, IT FOUND US!"

Weiss, fed up with all the mystery and irritated with being forcibly carried, shouted, "What!? What are we running from!? What are you two talking about!?"

"Remember, you guys were asking about what we were running form back on the first day? Well, that's what we're talking about, and that's what's chasing us!" Naruto explained.

Everyone turned to look behind them, and were none too thrilled to see it was a feline Grimm chasing them.

"Awww, it's actually kind of cute! Can we keep it?" Nora cried.

"Really? A cat Grimm? That's what's we're running from?" Blake deadpanned.

Rolling her eyes, Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster and waved it, encircling the small Grimm in a light blue glyph. The feline stared in wonder as it was encased in a tomb of frigid ice.

"Oh wow, truly that Grimm was-" Weiss' sarcastic speech was cut short when the sound of ice shattering echoed throughout the forest. Everyone stared in shock - Ruby, Naruto, and Kurama more so in terror - as the cat began to use its wicked claws to free itself from its icy prison. Hissing, in a blur of speed the cat disappeared. Following that, the clone that was carrying Weiss was violently murdered via a bite to jugular, leaving the Schnee heiress to fall on her rump. Refusing to be outdone by what appeared to a simple cat Grimm, Weiss summoned up a multitude of glyphs. To her further shock, the feline merely clawed through the runic circles as if they were corporeal things. When Yang and even Blake got involved, they were just as surprised when the Grimm was able to easily evade any and all of their swings or attacks. In return they received various angry scratches on their forearms, Yang's Ember Celica suffering its fair share of them.

"Ok, this is just ridiculous!" Yang cried.

She was forced on to her bum when a clone Naruto dove in front of her, taking the deadly claw strikes meant for her. Another clone picked her up, two others grabbing Blake and Weiss, and once again teams RWBY and NNPR were running.

"Now you know why me and Ruby are so terrified of that...thing! I tried almost my entire jutsu arsenal and nothing could kill it!" Naruto called out.

"That thing almost cut Crescent Rose in half!" Ruby added, tears streaming down her face.

"So what do we do?" Pyrhha asked.

Naruto's bangs shadowed his eyes as he whispered out, somehow managing to be heard over the rush of wind, "I'll have to use the jutsu Ero-Sennin taught me. It was the only way I was able to get away last time."

Coming to a stop, everyone watched with baited breath as Naruto and his clones stared down the feline Grimm that had managed to catch up.

Neither side made a move, waiting for the other to show a sign of weakness.

Opening his mouth wide, confidence blazing in his cerulean orbs, Naruto cried out, "Run Like a Bitch no jutsu!"

* * *

**AN: **Yo! Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out! This past month has been hectic as hell; I quit my old job cuz it was shitty and I got offered a job where music is very much so involved, went to Six Flags with some friends, drank with some other friends, and just other shenanigans that have left me with very little time to sit down and write.

If you can't tell from the first AN, I actually started work on this weeks ago and just recently got to finish it up.

Sorry that it was a sort of filler-ish chapter, but I tried to make it a little better by adding two separate Omake, one that answered a question many have been asking about since chapter 2. In regards to that; yes Tora the cat is alive and a Grimm (don't look too closely into the how of that) and yes, the omake aren't completely removed from the "canon" of this story. So yes, what happens in the Omake's will bear some weight on the story in some way.

Thank you guys, even though I hadn't updated this story in a while, there were still reviews steadily flowing in. A special thanks to Zinrow who left a review that really got me thinking about some stuff. It was on point in almost every single way and I can not disagree with the things they say in regards to FanFiction as a whole and in regards to this story. So thank you Zinrow! You, and many others have pointed out areas where I can still improve and I will try my best to take those things into account and make this an even better quality story.

Real quick, before I forget, another little shout out to heartfanglives for the rather poignant thoughts on a harem pairing. I'm still heavily leaning towards a single pairing, but you have revived some actual interest in a harem with some pretty sound reasoning.

Recent events have reminded me of our mortality as humans. We don't live forever and it is so easy for our lights to be snuffed out. Do what you can to make sure that while your flame burns, it burns as brightly as possible. Do what you love, and never be ashamed to like the things you like. Be happy with you, because at the end of the day, you're the one who has to look in the mirror and live with the decisions you make.

Perspective is everything and perspective is nothing.

Peace out!


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: **Feels good to be back! Unfortunate as it was that the servers had the impeccable timing of shutting down right after I uploaded a new chapter, but thems the apples you get from a free site, right?

Glad to see my little hiatus has also not discouraged anyone from coming back to this story, and I welcome any and all that are new to this whole thing. Recently started re-reading this story and only now realized how much of a jump there is in quality between the first chapter and now. For those of you that stuck it out through those stumblings and such, thank you! An even bigger thank you to those people who left critiques and offered the advice needed to get me to this point.

I honestly could not spot a one question in a single review so I'll be skipping the whole Comments/Concerns/Questions thing I usually do.

In lieu of that, I'll be personally responding to the reviews I want to.

Correnhimself316: Spot on! That is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote that Omake. The Holy Grail is one of the greatest comedies ever written.

huCast 75 madeanaccount: The fact that you've compared my written story to a Hideo Kojima work is a major ego booster. Now if only Kojima had finished Silent Hills...

Dragonslayer1313: At the time I was not all that into ALL of RT and so the fact that other members of AH had voiced characters (Michael as Sun, Jack as Junior, Ryan as Port, and Gavin possibly voicing an as of yet unknown character) didn't really click in my mind so it made sense. Now that you point that out...oops. Still I feel like sticking with the Main 6 will be more than fine. Lindsay and the others (Matt, Jeremy, Kdin) may be mentioned, but beyond that? No real plans for them to make cameos.

Isodrink: I don't know, I feel as if we really haven't gotten a clear idea of how populated (or unpopulated) Remnant is. Sure there's a very strong Post-apocalyptic vibe goin on, but it also seems like, despite the four kingdoms being the only real human strongholds, Remnant isn't as sparsely populated as we may think. Plus Ironwood and his forces in the Volume 2 ending made it pretty clear that, at least, Atlas is pretty well populated and militarized.

Well...enough lollygagging (huehue gagging loli...god I need to stop reading so much ecchi), **STORY TIME!**

* * *

"You know we don't have to do this right now, right?" A concerned Naruto stated as he gazed at the raven haired Faunus of team RWBY.

Blake shook herself from her small reverie, "No. If I don't do this now, then something will make me and I'd rather do this on my own terms."

With a resolute nod, the young teen opened the door to the room she shared with her teammates - no her friends - Naruto following behind her. The pair was greeted by the curious, yet equally happy, faces of the rest of team RWBY.

"Hey Foxy! Here for that match finally?" Yang asked with a cocky grin.

Already seeing Naruto ready to reply with his own smart ass response, Blake was quick to cut in, "No. He's here, because I asked him to be for this."

Seeing the serious look etched into their teammate's face, the others dropped what they were doing and turned all eyes onto her. Ruby was the one to ask the inevitable, "What do you mean, Blake? Here for what?"

Taking a deep breath, the teen Faunus replied, "I haven't been completely honest with you guys."

Yang, not being able to help herself, sassed, "Oh c'mon, not another big secret. I thought we were done after Foxy's!"

Shooting her partner a withering glare, Blake continued, "Ever since I got admitted to Beacon, I've been trying my hardest to distance myself and hide this secret. But, I wouldn't be treating you guys like real friends, like people I trust, if I didn't tell you at least." Taking a deep breath, the raven haired teen reached up to the bow that sat atop her wavy locks and pulled, revealing a pair of cat ears with fur a shade of deep violet that matched her stockings, "I'm a Faunus."

In response Weiss scoffed, "That's your big secret? If we didn't care when the dunce over there said he was one, why do you think we'd care if you're one?"

Rolling her eyes, Ruby interjected, "What Weiss MEANT to say was that, you're our teammate and friend Blake, and no matter what you always will be."

"Yeah, c'mon Blake, have a little more faith in us," Yang added.

While she was happy to hear the reassurance actually come from her teams' mouths, the raven haired teen knew there was still one last hurdle to get over, and this one would be slightly more difficult, "Well, there's a little more to it. What do you guys know about the White Fang?"

Without a thought, Weiss was the first to respond, "You mean that gang of no-life terrorists?"

While she was less than happy with what her former group had become, Blake still very much so sympathized with their reasons for doing such and what they originally stood for, and so her reply was not so surprising, "Terrorists? The only reason they had to resort to terrorist tactics was because of people like you!"

"Like me!? What have I done!?" Weiss shouted back.

"You have to ask, Ms. 'I'm-the-heiress-to-the-Schnee-dynasty'? Your family is responsible for some of the most horrendous treatment of people like me! Your father is responsible for shooting down almost every attempt to get equal rights for the Faunus!"

"And for good reason! The White Fang and their ilk shouldn't be getting equal rights! They should be locked up for their crimes!"

"What crimes!? Wanting to be treated just like everybody else!? Wanting to walk down the street without being glared or cussed at!?"

"Murder! Theft! Vandalism! The list goes on! In the past decade alone, the White Fang is responsible for killing almost a dozen of my relatives and stealing millions of dollars in Dust and other materials from the Schnee family!"

Before the argument could go any further or descend into something else entirely, Naruto unleashed a wave of his chakra and shouted, "ENOUGH!" With both teens effectively cowed, though still heatedly glaring at the other, the Jinchūriki continued in a firm voice, "You both are teammates, friends! There is no reason for either of you two to be fighting like this!"

Blake, still feeling offended and angered by Weiss' words, replied, "She's acting like a spoiled brat!"

Weiss scoffed, "Me!? You're acting like the White Fang is right and should be given medals!"

Yang, having heard enough and seeing the almost scared look in her little sister's eyes, stepped up and attempted to quell her teammates' anger, "Hey, hey! C'mon guys! We're all friends here, right? Let's take a deep breath and-"

Completely ignoring her partner, Blake glared into the pale blue eyes of her teammate and shouted, "People like you are the reason I joined them in the first place!"

Following that, there were no words said, only silence as Blake's words finally sunk in.

Ruby, having sat on the sidelines and watched almost tearfully as two of her friends screamed and hollered, quietly asked, "Blake? You were a part of the White Fang?"

Having realized what she had said and seeing what her and Weiss' argument had done to the people around them, Blake sighed and lowered her head, "Yes, Ruby, I used to be a member of the White Fang."

Seeing Weiss opening her mouth, Naruto interjected, "Tell them why you left."

Still not able to look her teammates in the eye, Blake admitted, "I left, because I couldn't justify what we were doing as right anymore. We used to stand for equality, for peace. When my partner was ready to sacrifice countless innocent people, all for petty revenge, I knew I couldn't keep working for them."

Again, silence descended on the group of teens.

This time however, it was Weiss who broke the silence, speaking in a surprisingly subdued voice, "I'm...sorry Blake. I had no idea. It's just...the White Fang has caused me and my family a lot of trouble-"

Blake was quick to interject, shaking her head, "No, I'm sorry Weiss. It was wrong of me to act like you were the one responsible for all of this."

Scooping her whole team into a group hug, Yang shouted, "Awww! Look at you two! Acting like actual friends! I guess you could say, the cats out of the bag! Eh? Eh?"

A resounding slapping sound echoed in the room as the rest of team RWBY put palm to face at the terrible pun.

Standing off to the side, Naruto smiled as he saw the four young women deepen their already strong bond. Quietly leaving the room, not wanting to intrude on what he felt was a more personal moment, the blond felt a tug on his heart as he remembered the last time Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and him had looked that happy, a time before Orochimaru had forcibly split them apart, worming his way into Sasuke's mind. Back when he had chased after Sakura, proclaiming his supposed love for her. Back when everything had been simple. When he didn't have to worry about his friends dying, because they were close to him. Back when all he was worried about was becoming Hokage and earning the respect and acknowledgment of his village.

Opening the door to his own room, Naruto was greeted by the smiling face of Pyrrha. Mere seconds later, the ever bubbly face of Nora popped into his field of view, the orange haired teen holding up a bottle of what he could only guess was nail polish.

"Captain Whiskers! We're doing makeovers! It's your turn!"

Eyeing the small glass bottle full of...whatever it was that nail polish actually was, Naruto shook his head, "Uh, I'm good Nora, thanks though."

"Aww, c'mon! Ren was a good sport and let me do his nails!" Nora pouted.

Turning, Naruto couldn't help, but to burst into laughter as he stared at a defeated looking Ren with cherry red nails.

Still laughing, Naruto shook his head again, "No, really I'm good Nora."

Grinning deviously, the hammer wielder reached out a hand for her blond captain's cheeks, "Don't make me use your whiskers!"

Wide eyed and fearful, Naruto slowly began backing up, "Now Nora, let's not do anything too rash here." Turning to Pyrrha, the former shinobi called out, "Pyrrha-chan! I could use some help about now!"

Giggling, the redhead instead held up her hand to show that Nora had even gotten to her, her nails now a simple white, "In this case, it may be best to just give in, Naruto."

Stubborn as any Uzumaki, Naruto refused to give into the wiles of his eccentric teammate and frantically began to look for an out. Seeing only one option available to him, the blond took it. Using chakra, Naruto stuck himself to the ceiling.

Pouting, Nora began jumping on her bed in an attempt to reach her stubborn captain, intent on painting his nails just as she had done for the rest of team NNPR.

As he watched Ren try and convince Nora to give up, Pyrrha laughing off to the side, Naruto came to a realization. He had no reason to be envious of the bond the members of team RWBY shared when he and his own team shared a bond just as strong. They knew about his past - the important bits - they knew about what he was, and they didn't care. Team NNPR was no Team Seven, and that was just fine by him.

* * *

"Could someone please explain to me how I got dragged into this?" Naruto asked as he walked alongside his teammates and team RWBY.

"Seeing as how the Vytal Festival is coming up soon and students from the other kingdoms will be arriving sometime today, I figured that as Heiress to the Schnee name and being a student of the prestigious Beacon Academy, it is my duty to welcome them to the great kingdom of Vale!" Weiss announced with a flourish.

Hands folded behind his head, Naruto squinted at the rapier wielder, "No, I get that you wanna scope out the competition, but how did me and my team get dragged into coming with you?"

Huffing, Weiss crossed her arms, "That is so not why we're here." Deciding to ignore the incredulous looks sent her way, the young teen continued, "As for why you're here...ask Blake."

Sighing, the teen Faunus explained, "Since you guys were gone for a week on your mission, we figured it'd be a good way to spend time to catch up."

"Yeah! And maybe even make a visit to that awesome weapon's store!" Ruby added.

Naruto stared at the excited team captain before speaking, "You just wanna ask them what they did to my staff, don't you?"

Twiddling her fingers, the younger teen mumbled out, "Maybe."

"What's this weapon store that everyone's been going on about? Ruby couldn't stop talking about them after you took her there," Yang asked. Her younger sister had literally spent near an hour that night going on and on about how amazing of a store it was and how she would now shop exclusively shop there.

"Oh! Oh! It's the store that Naruto owns!" Nora interjected.

Before questions could be raised, Ren added, "Partially. He worked out a deal with the other owners."

"There's one guy with a really big beard and glasses-"

"Jack."

"-and this kind of scary guy who sounds almost exactly like him-"

"Ryan."

"-and this guy with a funny mustache and a lot of cool tattoos-"

"Geoff."

"-plus this kind of short guy who likes to cuss a lot-"

"Michael."

"-oh! And then there's this guy with a funny accent and his brown friend and they do this weird thing and yell out 'X-Ray and Vav!' a lot."

"Ray and Gavin."

Those who had never been to the store - being Blake, Yang, and Weiss - stared incredulously at the others.

"You sure it was a store and not a circus?" Blake asked bluntly.

Having seen firsthand the madness that was the Achievement Hunters, Naruto shrugged, "Little of both."

Before anyone else could say anything, the group's attention was drawn elsewhere by the loud shouts of some of the shipyard workers.

"Stowaway!"

"Get back here you little thief!"

The two teams watched as several of the workers chased after a a blond teen who looked to be around their age. What caught the eye though was the fact that he was swinging off of the poles that dotted the harbor like a professional acrobat. Naruto raised a brow upon seeing what appeared to be a yellow monkey tail extending from the other blond's backside, the extra appendage appearing to aid the teen.

Blake raised her brow as she noticed the male Faunus looking pointedly at her for some reason. Thanks to her own heightened eyesight - courtesy of being a cat Faunus - she too was able to see the monkey tail that marked the male as a Faunus.

Having run out of poles to use to propel him, the unnamed Faunus fell to the ground and began sprinting towards them. As he passed by, Blake was completely caught off guard when the running blond passed her and attempted a flirtatious wink.

Everyone then turned their resident cat girl when they heard and saw her shiver.

"Something wrong, Blake?" Ruby asked innocently.

"That Faunus...winked at me," the raven haired teen admitted in a voice of equal parts creeped out and disgusted.

Yang was quick to take advantage of the moment, "Looks like someone's got an admirer!"

Blake stared at her teammate in disgust, "Eww, no thanks."

Having already figured her partner would say that, Yang grabbed both Blake and Naruto in either of her arms, "Aww that's right! I forgot you're more of a fox lover, huh?"

Alabaster cheeks bloomed a cherry red as Blake hastily replied, "Yang! Shut up!"

Grinning, the busty teen cheekily responded, "I didn't hear you disagreeing!"

Before the two partners could descend into any bickering, a shout from behind them grabbed their attention.

"Friend Ruby!"

Having heard the voice come from directly behind her, the youngest of the group jumped in surprise, "Ah! Penny! What are you doing here?"

As the group looked on between the somewhat awkward exchange of words, Naruto was busy having his own internal conversation with his tenant.

_'Kurama? Is it just me or is this girl giving off some really...weird vibes?'_

The Bijū narrowed its ruby red eyes, _'No. In fact, I don't sense anything from her.'_

_'What? But, how is that possible? I can sense...something from her, but whatever it is, it isn't natural,' _Naruto pondered.

_'I can feel that too, but she...she doesn't register on my Negative Emotion Sensing. It's like she doesn't even exist.'_

_'That can't be, right? Even someone like Ruby or Pyrrha pop up on your radar, right?'_

Huffing in annoyance, Kurama nodded, _'And that's because they're human and like any sentient being, have a sense of right and wrong, a sense of morality and the ability to do good or bad. As innocent as she may seem, even Ruby has her moments of anger, of jealousy. Pyrrha, as golden hearted as she may seem is the same and has her moments of hatred and disgust. This girl...has neither.'_

_'But, even animals and Grimm appear to you. Why doesn't she?' _The blond shinobi asked, completely dumbfounded. Sure, he wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but even he understood the fact that humans were in no way perfect. Every person, no matter how pure of heart they may seem, carried a darkness with them. It was simply the human condition. It was a fact of nature. Light could not exist without darkness and vice versa. Balance. Balance of good and evil. Balance of right and wrong. Even animals followed this law.

_'Like I said, it's because they have sentience. They have the capacity to feel, to reason. The ability to feel pain. This...thing lacks that,' _the Bijū explained, sounding as if he was horrified that such a thing could even be made. Considering that he was a portion of a being that amounted to being a Primordial God, a giver and taker of life, a thing of nature and life, it made sense. To a being like him, the creation of something that could move and talk and was self aware yet lacked a capacity to have emotions, to have a moral code was a travesty.

"You are odd," came the flat toned voice that broke Naruto from his musings.

Having been caught up in his own little world, he failed to notice the odd...girl invading his personal space.

Scratching his cheek, Naruto replied, "How so?"

"You have whiskers like a cat!"

The blond Jinchūriki couldn't help but sweat drop at the blunt reply, "Uh, yeah. Had 'em since I was born?"

Again, the rest of the group resumed their little chat, awkwardly caught up by the strangeness that was Penny, but both Naruto and Blake were distracted by the hushed voices of a passing pair of Faunus. Being the only two with enhanced hearing, they were the only ones able to make out what was being said.

"Why are we trying the docks again? Last time that blond dude almost caught us and roasted us."

"I know, and that's exactly why we're going back. We weren't able to grab everything we needed, so we're going back to get the rest."

Knowing exactly what the two were talking about, Naruto and Blake narrowed their eyes. Turning to the other, they shared a nod. Whatever the White Fang needed at the docks, they would be there to find out.

* * *

Later that night, with the moon hanging high in the blanket of the sky, Naruto and Blake watched from atop a stack of large freighters as White Fang members moved crates of what they could only assume to be Dust and other valuables onto a large Bullhead. Naruto turned to see the defeated look on his friend's face. Frowning, he placed a hand on her shoulder and inquired, "Something wrong?"

Sighing, the young Faunus replied, "It's just hard to believe that the group I used to fight with, fight for, has fallen so low. I knew the evidence was there, but part of me always hoped it was just slander. Now...well here's the proof."

Before Naruto could offer any words, a familiar and boisterous voice that made his skin crawl, echoed through the shipping yard, "Hey! What's the hold up!? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment! Why don't you animals try and pick up the pace?"

Both Naruto and Blake watched, shocked, as Roman Torchwick stepped into view in his usual state of dress.

"What? Torchwick?...something's not right here. There's no way the White Fang would be working with a human, especially not someone like him."

Seeing the raven haired teen rising to her feet and unsheathing her weapon, Naruto stood to his feet and called out Hi no Ishi. Cracking a cocky grin, the blond captain spoke up, "Well let's find out why!"

The two easily jumped off their perch and began sprinting towards the group. Naruto, while capable of stealth, didn't exactly prefer it. With a Rasengan already formed in one hand, the ex-Shinobi broke through the ranks of White Fang members and jumped into the air.

Torchwick, having spotted the blur of yellow as it jumped into the air, managed to roll out of the way before he could be hit. Both he and the White Fang members watched in slight awe as the small orb of condensed energy tore the ground asunder, sending chunks of concrete everywhere. Seeing the person responsible for the surprise attack step out of the dust cloud that had been kicked up, Torchwick sneered.

"Miss me, Torchwick?" Naruto taunted with a cocky grin.

"Like a bad infection," the crime boss retorted.

Blake joined her friend and looked at the White Fang members that surrounded them. Removing the bow that hid her ears, the young woman questioned her former comrades, "Why are you working with a scumbag like Roman Torchwick!?"

None of them responded, lowering their weapons and looking away in what could only be shame. Blake watched, saddened as none of her fellow Faunus offered a response, some small part of her hoping there was some valid reason that her brothers in arms had fallen so low. Naruto meanwhile frowned. That frown only deepened as Torchwick spoke up in that same boisterous voice of his.

"Haven't you heard? Me and the White Fang have decided to join in a partnership of sorts!"

Angry and hurt, Blake lashed out verbally, "Shut up! Whatever your little plan is, it ends now!"

Despite having the business end of the young teen's weapon pointed at him, the flame haired man continued to grin, "I wouldn't call it a little plan.."

As if on cue, two massive Bullheads roared into view, kicking up winds and illuminating the previously dark wharf. Taking advantage of the two teens being distracted, Torchwick aimed his cane at Blake, and fired, a ball of flames exploding forwards at high speeds.

Before the flaming projectile could get anywhere near the raven haired Faunus, Naruto appeared in a blur of speed and batted the ball away with a swing of Hi no Ishi. Seeing the White Fang members that had previously been inactive taking up arms again, Blake drew her own ebony weapon and readied herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other members of team RWBY and NNPR - plus a tag along in the form of Penny - stared in the direction that they had just seen two Bullheads fly.

"...think that's where Naruto and Blake are?" Yang asked aloud.

No one said a word, simply shaking their heads before sprinting off in the direction of the bay.

* * *

Naruto ducked under the swing of a sword aimed to cut him in half and pulled on the black ribbon tied to his forearm, pulling Blake over him, allowing her to smash her heels into the White Fang member's mask, shattering it and sending him to the floor in an unconscious heap. Ignoring their downed comrade, two of the Faunus charged at the crouching girl only for her to extend her leg and sweep their legs out from underneath them. Naruto leapt over his friend and plowed his elbow into the stomach of one of the airborne attackers while the other received the pommel of Blake's weapon to his own abdomen.

Releasing his hold on the black ribbon that had connected him and his impromptu partner, Naruto turned and drew out the blade of Hi no Ishi, blocking the blade of another White Fang member who had attempted to skewer him. Black cloth wrapped around the man's hands, pulling them down, allowing Naruto to swing the staff portion of his weapon into the white mask of his opponent.

Steel clashed against steel as Blake brought up her weapon and stopped a swing meant to cut into her side. Flipping over his friend, Naruto delivered a vicious leg drop onto the unsuspecting man's skull. With her weapon attached to her ribbon, Blake tossed it into the crowd, beaming one directly in the stomach. Pulling on the ribbon, the blade spun back into her hand, allowing her to quickly parry another strike and retaliate with her own.

Unsheathing her weapon revealing there to be a smaller blade within the larger one, Blake again tossed a portion of her weapon into the grouping of White Fang members, the spinning blade slamming into an opponent's mask. With the years of dexterity that came from wielding and mastering her style and weapons, the teen Faunus pulled on the ribbon, the strip of cloth wrapped in such a way that it pulled on the trigger of the gun portion.

The laws of motion came into play, the force of the shot propelling the weapon right back at its wielder, only to miss and strike the White Fang member attempting a sneak attack, Blake simultaneously taking out another with a quick swipe from the bladed sheath of her weapon that was now held in a reverse grip. Another shot was fired via ribbon pulling, and then another, turning the weapon into naught but a blur of black with the occasional spark of light from a gunshot.

Blake was meanwhile dishing out her fair share of strikes with kicks or swings from the larger blade in her left hand, all the while controlling the path and trajectory of the other piece of her weapon with her right hand.

Naruto, was anything but idle at this time, dealing out chakra empowered strikes that left his opponents with cracked or broken bones. Performing a back flip, Naruto dodged a literal bullet, the staff half of Hi no Ishi coming up and slamming into the underside of a would be attacker's jaw whilst he was crouched, sending blood and teeth into the air.

Using a perfectly timed Kawarimi no jutsu _(Body Replacement technique)_ to dodge yet another bullet, the blond shinobi turned Huntsman used the distraction to answer with a shot from Hi no Ishi, now in its rifle form. Spinning, Naruto ducked under a swing from what looked to a be a club of some sort, extending his leg and swiping the attacker's legs out from underneath them.

Still crouched and now facing the opposite direction, Naruto extended his right arm and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet tearing through the air. As the recoil hit, the blond loosened his grip, allowing the staff/sword/rifle to ricochet backwards.

As his previously fired bullet tore the leg muscles of an advancing enemy, Hi no Ishi plowed into the still airborne club wielding White Fang member behind him. Rising to his feet and grabbing his weapon in one fluid motion, Naruto shifted his head to the side, dodging a punch. Turning around, the half blood Uzumaki viciously slammed his own fist into his attacker's mask, shattering it and sending the man skidding along the ground.

Now standing back to back, Naruto and Blake fearlessly stared down the remaining White Fang members that surrounded them, the rest of them laying at their feet, unconscious or in far too much pain to do much more than lay there on the concrete.

"You idiots just can't do anything right, can you!?"

Naruto's eyes flickered to the side, and in instant, Hi no Ishi's blade was singing through the air, slicing a blazing fireball in two. Blake rushed the crime boss, weaving around the projectiles aimed at her. When the teen Faunus was only a scant few yards away, the effeminate man's aim seemed to improve, one of his shells seemingly about to hit its mark.

To Naruto's surprise, Blake pulled off a move that would have made any shinobi proud.

An exact clone of the raven haired teen appeared, taking its creator's place and fading away as the blazing shell impacted with it.

Torchwick flicked his cane up in the next instant, batting aside the half of her weapon that Blake had attached to her ribbon. Of course that was the only split second distraction she needed as she emerged from the cloud of debris that had been kicked up from her opponent's missed shot, the other larger half of her weapon held in her other hand in a reverse grip.

Torchwick moved his head to side, dodging Blake's weapon by the smallest of margins. Her follow up, firing off a shot to bring the other half of her weapon spinning back to her and attempting a stab with it, was just as easily avoided. However, Blake was not so easily able to dodge the swing from Torchwick's cane, the blow to her abdomen sending her rolling.

It was only thanks to years of experience that the flame haired crime boss was able to narrowly dodge out of the way of a flying kick courtesy of Naruto, lashing out with a shot from his cane in response. Instead of a cry of pain though, the young teen exploded into a cloud of smoke.

_'Shit! Forgot the brat could make clones!' _Torchwick cursed.

That was his only moment of rest as he was soon beset by a pair of rushing blond's attempting to pull a pincer maneuver on him. Firing off a shot at one, Torchwick swiftly moved around the punch of the other clone and popped it with a harsh hit to the cranium.

Turning around, the crime boss mentally cursed again as he saw four more cockily grinding blonds ready to rush him.

_'Really starting to hate this kid.'_

Meanwhile, the real Naruto was helping Blake to her feet. The young teen coughed as she attempted to gather air in her lungs. The hit had been unexpectedly powerful and there was no doubt that she now had a bruised rib or two. Looking up and seeing their enemy being toyed with by a few dozen or so copies of her blond friend brought a smirk to her face though.

"So you can make clones too?"

Grinning, Naruto boasted, "Yeah, but mine can actually deal some damage and move on their own."

Seeing Torchwick narrowly dodge a punch that then created a small crater in the pavement, Blake nodded in agreement. While her Semblance allowed her to create some very real looking clones, they were more akin to an afterimage than anything else. They couldn't move of their own accord or really interact with the physical world unless she forcibly pumped them full of her Aura or some other form of energy.

The pair's little break was interrupted as the nearby Bullheads unleashed a hail of bullets, taking out each and every one of Naruto's clones, leaving Torchwick unscathed.

"Thank you! Finally decided to do your job!"

Without any sort of warning, Torchwick fired off a shot in a seemingly random direction. Hearing a cry of pain and a chorus of worried shouts, Naruto and Blake swiveled their eyes to see their teammates and friends surrounding a downed Nora.

Naruto's eyes grew wide as the Bullheads turned their sights to the group of teens, the barrels on the mounted guns already beginning to spin.

"NO!"

In a blur of speed, Naruto disappeared, reappearing in front his friends already speeding through a chain of hand seals.

"Suiton: Suijinheki _(Water Release: Water Formation Wall)_!"

A massive torrential wave of water seemingly slithered out from the nearby ocean, coalescing and eventually forming into an all encompassing wall in front of the group, stopping any and all bullets dead in their tracks.

The others watched in slight awe as shells floated throughout the wall of water that surrounded them, evidence of its stopping power, and the power their blond friend was capable of. They were caught off guard when a clone of Naruto suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves, carrying a slightly disoriented Blake.

"Blake!" Her team cheered, gathering the young Faunus in a group hug, sans Weiss.

Their little reunion was stopped when they saw Naruto drop his hands, releasing his hold on the jutsu and allowing the water to splash down onto the docks as a harmless wave. However, harmless wasn't the word they'd use to describe their friend.

"TORCHWICK!" Naruto roared out.

Team RWBY was unprepared for the wave of pure malice and hate that washed over them, their breath catching in their throats as fear gripped their hearts. Team NNPR, already having experienced this feeling before, was a little more prepared, but were still as vulnerable to the suffocating power their captain was drawing upon, finding it slightly difficult to breathe.

However even they were soon forced to their knees as a burning orange cloak of energy began to form around their blond friend. The energy, or whatever it was, bubbled like boiling water, frothing and continuously moving. As a feeling of sheer terror consumed them, they watched, wide eyed, as a single tail began to form, oozing into form, waving to and fro in a mesmerizing dance. Similarly, a long pair of ears began to bubble up and take shape atop the Jinchūriki's head. Naruto's arms were encased in the same hazy shroud of orange, claws taking form. Likewise, his legs were enshrouded by wicked looking blade like talons that tore into the concrete with ease.

Naruto himself became far more animalistic than was previously thought possible. Long gone were the sapphire blue eyes he was known for, replaced by burning crimson orbs full of hate and loathing. Claws sharp enough to tear through flesh replaced his normally dull fingernails. Fangs poked over his snarling lips. His already wild head of blond spikes was now a veritable mane, looking shaggier than usual.

Now standing on all four limbs, the usually cheery and knuckleheaded blond captain of team NNPR was the image of terror, vicious and far more beastly than any Grimm could be capable of.

The others watched in horror as Torchwick fired off a series of shots while the Bullheads unloaded on their friend, the bullet storm kicking up enough dirt and debris to block their view. Pyrrha had to forcibly be held back by Ren while Yang held her younger sister in a tight embrace, watching and unable to do anything as their friend became the victim of an impromptu firing squad only feet away.

As the hail of bullets came to an end, everyone was shocked and beyond relieved when a nightmarish roar echoed throughout the air, the concussive blast of air accompanying it blowing away the cloud of dirt and debris, revealing an unscathed Naruto. All around him lay a countless number of shells, the concrete torn apart and yet not even a hair was out of place on the Jinchūriki himself.

Leaping down from his perch, the Uzumaki Jinchūriki cratered the ground upon impact. Moving a hand forward, all eyes widened as the demonic shroud's matching limb moved and actually extended, reaching one of the Bullheads that hovered in the air. As the aircraft began to visibly struggle to escape the corrosive grip of the enraged Jinchūriki, Naruto closed his fist, the shroud copying its creator, razor sharp claws easily tearing through the thickened armor of the aerial vehicle.

The night sky above the wharf was lit by a blinding explosion as fuel met the acidic chakra of a Jinchūriki.

While this happened, Torchwick was unloading near everything he had at the enraged teen, and none of it got anywhere close to actually doing any sort of damage, the hazy orange cloak moving to protect its master and either deflecting or destroying any and all projectiles sent his way, the blond teen himself not even bothering to look in the direction of the man.

_'What the hell are you playing with, Cinder?' _Torchwick questioned, watching as the enraged teen before him swung his other arm, catching the second Bullhead in the grasp of his demonic energy shroud. In a show of preternatural strength, Naruto easily brought the machine down, plowing it into the hard concrete and setting off another explosion that rocked the pier.

Seeing his chance, amidst the chaos created by the rampaging teen, Torchwick slipped away unnoticed, knowing he stood no chance against such a monstrosity, not yet at least.

Turning to where he had last sensed the man responsible for harming one of his teammates, Naruto growled in frustration upon not finding a trace of the crime boss. Releasing his hold on his Bijū's chakra, his feral features and the demonic shroud began to slowly recede, fading out of existence, leaving behind a disgruntled blue eyed teen.

_'Just as slippery as that teme Orochimaru,' _Naruto mentally cursed.

Remembering why he had been so enraged, the blond decided to shove those bought a to the side and rushed back to his teammates.

As he approached, he was relieved to see Nora getting up, holding her head in pain, "Owie, what hit me?"

While her clothes were slightly singed and she looked slightly disoriented, the hammer wielding teen looked relatively unharmed.

Offering a hand to help his teammate up, which she took, Naruto explained, "It was that slime ball Torchwick. But don't worry, next time, we'll get him, -ttebayo!"

After having dusted herself off, Nora cheered, "Yay! Can we break his legs?"

Laughing at the eccentric girl's exuberance, Naruto nodded, "Yup! And you'll have the honor of doing it yourself!"

"Can I also join in breaking the bad man's legs?" Penny asked with her usual forced cheer, joining the conversation for the first time.

Sweat dropping, Naruto thought to himself, _'It's like Sai all over again...except without the penis jokes.'_

Before anyone could comment on the odd girl's...well oddness, the sound of someone running towards them caught their attention. Turning, everyone cocked a brow in curiosity as a frazzled looking blond dressed in simple white armor that covered him from the neck down, reached their position, panting and seemingly out of breath. After gulping down some air the shaggy haired teen wheezed out, "Penny! You can't go running off like that! Captain Ironwood would kill me if he ever found out I lost you!"

For the first time, Penny smiled in what seemed to be genuine happiness, "Friend Jaune! You found me!"

Sweat dropping, the now named Jaune gave a defeated nod, "Yeah, just had to follow all the explosions."

Extending a hand, the ginger haired teen pointed and flatly stated, "But that wasn't me. It was Ruby's friend, Naruto."

Turning to see his fellow blond wearing an evil grin as he and the battered orange haired female seemed to be plotting something, Jaune again sweat dropped.

_'These guys are weird!'_ Chuckling nervously, the blond teen gave a short bow, "Well, thank you for looking after Penny for me."

Being the reason Penny was even able to associate with the rest of the group, Ruby replied with a smile, "No problem! She's always welcome to hang with us."

Penny wrapped her arms around the young teen and unknowingly began to crush her in a hug, "Oh thank you so much friend Ruby!"

Struggling to escape the vice like grip of the ginger's grip, the red themed Huntress to be choked out, "Penny! Too! Much!"

Releasing her hold, Penny began to frantically apologize. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before his boss and Penny's technical father sent out a search team for them, Jaune began to tug her arm, pulling her with him, showing a surprising amount of strength.

"Thank you again! We have to go now though!"

The two teams watched the odd pair leave, some of them scratching their heads in curiosity.

Arms folded behind his head and eyes closed, Naruto offhandedly commented, "Well...they were strange." When he didn't hear a response after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him incredulously, "What?"

Blake was the one to point out the obvious, "You're a warrior from a civilization that died ages ago and have a super powerful mass of energy tied to you. I don't think you should be talking about other people being odd. "

Scratching the back of his head, the former shinobi chuckled, "Uh, guess you're right."

Slinging an arm around his shoulders, Yang leaned on her fellow blond, "That reminds me. Since you're from like thousands of years ago, wouldn't that make you thousands of years old?"

Scratching his head in puzzlement, Naruto responded, "I don't think so. I mean, Kurama said it was kind of like being thrown through a wormhole or something. Why?"

"Well, because it'd be pretty weird if you and Blake started dating and you were like older than Remnant!"

"Yang!" Blake shouted, a rosy tint coloring her cheeks at the implication of her and the Jinchūriki dating.

Before Yang could give any sort of cheeky response, Weiss interjected, "Ugh! Can we just go back to Beacon already!? We've been out all day!"

"Aww, no need to be so...cold, Weiss," Yang replied.

A chorus of groans was the answer to the busty teen's pun.

"I can't believe you just said that," Blake muttered.

"Yeah, even I knew that one was pretty bad," Nora added.

Yang pouted, "You guys wouldn't know comedy gold if it hit you in the face."

"Ignoring Yang's terrible puns, Weiss is right. We do have class tomorrow," Ren interjected.

The others gave a tired nod and began to make their out of the now destroyed wharf, completely ignoring the still burning remains of the two Bullheads and the unconscious forms of the White Fang members that Blake and Naruto had knocked around.

However, the blaring sounds of sirens caused them all to groan aloud.

Glaring at Naruto, Weiss spoke up, "I blame you."

"Me!? What did I do!?" The Schnee heiress simply raised a hand and pointed to the destruction and chaos behind them, not needing words to convey her point. Naruto began to chuckle, "Oh...yeah. You...may have a point there, Princess."

"I guess you could say he...outfoxed them..."

"UGH!"

"Yang!"

"Boooo!"

* * *

**AN: **Jesus. H. Fucking. Christ. I have never had this much difficulty writing a damned chapter before. I am literally writing this right after having deleted a 1000 or so word chunk and trashing it entirely. That's nothing to say about the various other parts that were added, edited, or completely replaced.

And yes, part of that editing was my redacting of my decision to retcon certain characters. I realized that team SSSN would probably play some role in the tournament, and it would be interesting to show how much an impact Naruto has had on the canon of the RWBY-verse and the relationships between certain characters. Also, Naruto and his clones would totally kick Sun and his clone wannabes butts.

As for Jaune, I can't remember who it was, but somebody early on reviewed with the idea to have Jaune be tied to Penny somehow, so I took the idea and decided to run with it. Sorry that I've forgotten who you are, but thank you for the idea!

But anyways! We are now officially back on RWBY canon track! For a more clear hint, this was the whole last two or three episodes of Volume 1. Few things to wrap up and we'll be marching onwards to Volume 2!

That in mind, the Volume 3 announcement and sneak peeks! And the Volume 3 World of Remnant! Future plot ideas galore! As a hint, any Naruto fans think that the Vytal Festival sounds freakishly similar to the Chunin Exams of the Naruto-verse? Well I do. OCTOBER 24TH PEOPLE. ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN. CHOO CHOO.

In related news, the sad part was finding out that Ren will now be voiced by Monty's brother. A fitting tribute, but I am holding my hopes down after hearing that in doing so, they will also be changing Ren's personality to fit the change in VA. It makes sense, but it also irks me. Guess we'll have to see how it all works out.

I would like to thank all of those people who continue to support this piece of work and who offer advice where they can. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, as long as you offer criticism in a polite and open manner, then it will be taken into serious thought. In that same vein, thank you those people who have done just that (TheKaiSenpai, Shiso Kitsune, and Modis being the latest of that bunch) and thank you to those who simply offer words of encouragement.

My friends will occasionally ask how this story is going, and I'm always happy to blab to them about how awesome you all are.

Also, reminder, BlackMagic622 has released a pretty damned funny and witty reading of this fic using the RWBY characters and it would be awesome if you guys went over there and shared the same love you show this story. Right now it's only a prologue and the first chapter of this story, but go show 'em some love and get that review count climbing!

If you're into the OC scene as well, I'd like to recommend TheKaiSenpai, cool person who offered to help me clean up this story (an offer I had to decline due to my sporadic writing these days). Checked it out, and while it's not my cup of tea, it's all extremely well written and put together.

I was gonna write an omake, but I think I blew all my funny on Barbra Xiao Long and her puns.

Enough out of me! I gotta get started on the next chapter and finish up the second chapter of The Auspice!

Until next chapter!

PEACE OUT


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:** Just minutes ago, I watched the first episode of Volume 3...HOLY FLYING FUCK NUTS. CHARACTER PROGRESSION. SMOOTHER ANIMATIONS. SO MANY REVEALS AND HINTS. AND BADASS MUSIC.

ALSO, I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SO MANY THINGS EVEN UNKNOWINGLY. SUCK ON THAT FLAMERS.

Ok, ok, I'm good. Just had to get that out somehow. Being serious though, Volume 3 is on the right tracks to being a great season full of a lot of interesting reveals and progression, something a lot of people have been clamoring for. Finally got to see Taiyang (why was he so oddly rendered? Looks a lot less...intimidating than I thought), Neo got some fun time (I was right, fuck yeah), and I have a huge plethora of ideas of how my version of this will work so wonderfully with the whole setup.

On a more...emotional note, I'm glad to see Monty's vision shining through. His friends and coworkers are doing it justice and that's all we could ask for. As for Neath Oum's rendition of Ren...well done. It was a little tear jerking for Ren to open his mouth and have a different voice come out, but Neath is doing an excellent job.

In regards to this, well we still gotta get through Volume 2 and boy do I got stuff planned. After watching both the new RWBY episode and the Yang vs. Tiffa Deathbattle on Screw Attack (SPOILER: Yang was fucking brutal with that Ember Celica neck snap), I have had the biggest renewed urge to work on this!

That said, it's the return of Questions/Comments/Concerns!

**C:** Naruto and the Bijū cloak.

**A: **As stated back in chapter 15, Kurama's chakra is slowly being balanced back out, but the form and properties of the chakra depends heavily on how either Kurama or Naruto use it. The reason it manifested as the old angry red shroud was because Naruto was using it while filled by hate for Torchwick. If he were to call upon it while happy/stable, it would appear and act somewhat differently.

In summary, Naruto's state of mind changes how Kurama's chakra acts.

**Q/C/C**: The pairing.

**A:** ...um...hmm...well...er...heh...sooo...no...yeah...shit.

Look people, I've no fucking clue how the pairing will turn out. I've sure as hell planned out certain key points, but the pairing isn't one of them. Like a majority of this story, any and all shipping hints appear because it fits and works at the moment. I never intentionally write a fluff scene. I don't sit and think "Gee, this chapter Blake and Naruto should flirt/kiss/hug/what have you". I start typing and it just...happens. Do I revise them? Sure.

I'll tell you all what I think you want to hear: I personally love the idea of Naruto ending up with Blake. Why? It works. Opposites attract. They balance the other out. However part of me also likes Naruto and Pyrrha. Kind of that cool "history repeating itself" thing. Funny twist is that Pyrrha is more like Minato and Naruto is more like Kushina. Then there's Cinder. Who doesn't love a bad girl? Besides that, I feel like Naruto could be that redeeming factor for Cinder that coincides with her anti-hero thing.

Don't even get me started on the fact that BlackMagic622 has unintentionally sparked my interest in a Naruto and Yang pairing.

I DONT FUCKING KNOW MAN.

What I do know is this, I will definitely not put up a poll for it. Like I said, I like letting the story sort of write itself and having a pairing decided already would sort of force me to arbitrarily add in the necessary steps as opposed to letting it go where it will.

**C:** Team RWBY's reaction, or lack thereof, to Naruto's Bijū cloak.

**A:** Refer to this chapter.

That was pretty much all I could see from the reviews, other than some people adding in a few comments about Jaune being back in, so that's that.

NOTICE/READ ME: This chapter will feature a bit of a time skip. Why? Well it's time to move onto Volume 2 and there was a huge jump to the second semester. There are an assload of things I could fully type out (more team NNPR missions, more training sessions, etc.) to fill that in, but that would take up like 3-4 more chapters AT LEAST, and I for one am eager to move onto the events of Vol. 2. More non-canon stuff will still happen, so no I'm not suddenly jumping into fully following the canon event board, but still, shit really starts rolling around this time and I wanna get to it.

That in mind...

**STORY TIME**

* * *

"Pyrrha! Pinball!"

Back flipping out of the way of a hammer strike courtesy of Nora, Pyrrha slipped off her bronze shield and gave it a great toss.

Nora, while not the fastest member of her team was able to easily avoid the thrown shield. However, said bubbly teen was not as prepared for one of several clones to send Akoúo spinning back around with a swing from his staff. Collapsing Magnhild, Nora was able to quickly duck under the deadly shield, escaping it yet again.

Seeing the shield making its way around to him, Ren was quick to jump and twirl, spinning parallel to the bronze disc at just the right time. This also served to surprise the Naruto clone he had been dealing with, the doppelgänger popping out of existence as Akoúo tore through it with ease.

With a grin, the Kage Bunshin that stood just off to the side was more than eager to fulfill his role and bat it back into the ring he and the other clones had formed around Ren and Nora. However, it and it's brethren were surprised when Nora decided to join in the game of deadly pinball, using Magnhild to send Akoúo tearing through one clone before it rebounded off the wall and continued to cut through the ranks of clones.

Those few clones smart enough to dodge the frisbee of doom quickly became victim to the rapid fire of Ren's dual SMGs.

The childhood friends were spared no time though, Naruto and Pyrrha emerging from the cloud of smoke that was the product of a dozen or so Kage Bunshin popping. Nora was quick enough to duck under the swing of her captain's shakujo, squeezing the trigger on Magnhild's handle, plowing the hammer into the Jinchūriki and sending him hurtling into the ceiling with a pink flash.

Ren, meanwhile, was nimbly avoiding various thrusts and jabs from Pyrrha. Bringing one of his twin pistols up, the long haired teen used the bladed portion of the SMG to counter a thrust from Miló, quickly attempting to take advantage of the opening with a palm thrust.

Pyrrha was quick to bring up Akoúo with one hand while the other used Miló to catch Ren unaware and sweep him off his feet. Bringing up her leg, the Invincible Girl's foot collided with her teammate's abdomen, sending him skipping across the ground.

Listening to her instincts, honed from years of actual combat and training, Pyrrha raised her shield above her head just in time to stop Magnhild from squishing her into a paste. Using her Semblance at just the right moment, she was also able to repel most of the actual force of the hit, sparing herself from having to deal with broken bones as well.

Going a step further with her control over polarity, Pyrrha supercharged the area between her shield and Nora's hammer, the quick spike acting with enough force to send the orange haired teen flying through the air.

Landing in a surprised heap alongside her childhood friend, Nora was quick to get back up.

"Sting!" Ren called out.

Nodding her head, Nora shifted Magnhild into its grenade launcher form, firing off a shot aimed directly for Pyrrha.

Not knowing what her teammates had planned, Pyrrha decided to take the safer route and dodge out of the way of the shell, Miló shifting into its own firearm form and unleashing a quick succession of shots.

Weaving around the incoming bullets, the duo were quickly closing the gap between them and their team's second in command. As Pyrrha readied herself to fight the two, their team captain decided to reappear. Caught off guard by his sudden appearance, Nora caught a palm thrust directly to the abdomen, harshly forcing the air from her lungs. Ren having a split second more to react, used it to the best of his ability and dodged out of the way of a swing from Hi no Ishi.

He was however wholly unprepared for his captain to slide his grip down to the ring portion of the shakujo, quickly shift the staff into its own "gun" form, and squeeze the leather bar, sending a "bullet" barreling into his upper chest.

Firing off another shot just to Ren's side, Naruto struck a recovering Nora with a recoil empowered hit to her solar plexus, sending her tumbling backwards. Ren, gathering back his wits, went for an Aura powered strike, but was quickly shut down by Pyrrha's timely appearance, Miló in spear form knocking his arm aside while Akoúo was shoved into his chest, throwing him into a heap next to his partner.

"Was wondering where you had gone off too," Pyrrha quipped.

Sulking at the friendly jab, Naruto replied, "Hey, you try taking a hit from Nora! Pretty sure she actually broke something this time."

Knowing full well that her friend could, and probably already had, heal from even broken bones in a short time frame, the red head only chuckled and shook her head. Seeing her formerly downed teammate's getting back up, she lowered herself and took up a ready stance. Naruto likewise tensed his muscles, casually twirling Hi no Ishi in one hand.

Holding himself up on one knee, Ren called out, "Surprise Bloom!"

Bringing herself to her feet, Nora nodded and brought her hammer up. Naruto and Pyrrha fully expected a frontal assault of some sort and so were heavily surprised when, in a flash of pink and with the crack of gunfire, their orange haired teammate slammed her weapon into the floor, splintering the concrete and sending it up into the air.

Ren followed suit and began to unload a flurry of quick strikes into the still floating chunks, destroying them and creating a thick cloud of debris that hung in the air, greatly lowering visibility.

Naruto nodded his head, seeing where the two childhood friends were going with the tactic. Hell he had encountered several people who had used the same strategy, most notably one Zabuza Momoichi, a missing nin from Kirigakure. While he was impressed by the way they created the cover, he also knew there was a fatal flaw to their plan.

Unlike Zabuza who had mastered the art of the Sairento Kiringu _(Silent Killing Technique)_ and was capable of tracking his quarry by sound alone while he himself remained as quiet as a wraith - his own mist not hindering him in the slightest - both Ren and Nora would have just as hard a time tracking them through the cloud as he and Pyrrha would for them. It was a double edged sword.

It seemed Pyrrha had also picked up on this, seeming to be just as calm despite her reduced visibility.

When he felt a shift in the air just to his right, Naruto realized too late he had forgotten one key thing that gave Ren an edge. Barely managing to dodge out of the way of a swing from the twin pistols that were Storm Flower, the blond teen cursed. Before he could even manage to warn his partner, he was quickly having to backpedal in an effort to evade the flurry of strikes aimed at him.

Just as he was about retaliate, now being able to vaguely make out the silhouette of his long haired teammate, a bone shattering swing from behind sent him tumbling out of the cloud of debris. Not too long after, as he lay on the floor groaning, Pyrrha landed in a heap of pain next to him.

"Owwww," the duo chorused.

"Whoops, may have overdone it," a sheepishly chuckling Nora admitted as she stepped out of the now fading cloud.

Shaking his head, Ren followed suit, "You think?"

"Bah, not like the brat hasn't experienced worse. He's just being a cry baby," Kurama spoke up, having watched the four teens duke it out from off to the sides, his paws folded underneath his head as his tail lazily swayed back and forth.

"Oi! Just because I can heal doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!" Painfully rising to his feet, Naruto winced as he could feel bones beginning to mend back together. Reaching down, he offered a hand to Pyrrha who took it and slowly rose to her feet, wincing as she could feel the bruises already forming.

Being the better off of the two, the blond Jinchūriki slung one of the emerald eyed teen's arms over his shoulder. With one hand holding her arm, his other wrapped around her waist, the pair began to limp their way out of the now destroyed arena, Ren and Nora following behind while Kurama padded alongside his container.

Naruto's limp became less and less noticeable as they continued on their walk through campus, his healing factor working quickly to mend his wounds. Pyrrha was much in the same boat, her Aura working hard to numb the pain and speed up the healing process, albeit at a much slower rate than what Naruto's body was capable of. Despite that, neither minded the close contact of the other.

"So when did you two come up with that little plan of yours," Naruto questioned.

Nodding her head, Pyrrha added, "It was executed well and was a good show of your teamwork."

"Hehe. It's cause I called him a bat!" Nora cheerily answered.

Having spent several months with her, Naruto and Pyrrha were unfazed by their teammate's odd eccentricities and turned to Ren for a better explanation.

Sighing, Ren explained, "We had been sparring when some dust got in my eyes. Even though I closed them, I was able to still feel where Nora was and kept on fighting."

Naruto grinned, "So I was right! You use your Semblance to make up for not being able to see as well, huh?"

Not being the least surprised that the blond former shinobi had figured out his little trick, Ren nodded, "Yes. I've been training with being able to sense other people's Aura's and have gotten good enough to use it as a sort of 'second eyesight' ability."

"But you can't track inanimate objects, can you?" Pyrrha asked curiously, surprising the others.

Ren only raised a brow, slightly shocked, "Correct. Since I can only vaguely see Aura, unless someone is channeling their Aura through an object, it won't appear to me."

"Have fun destroying another training area?" Interrupted a familiar lower toned voice, hints of sarcasm leaking through.

Knowing only one person who was capable of such a tone of voice, Naruto grinned, "Not our fault they don't make 'em durable enough to handle our awesomeness."

Smirking as she and her team waltzed up to the younger teens, Coco didn't bat an eye at their state of dress or at how intimate the blond captain and red haired second in command looked, "Awesomeness? Real nice use of the English language there blondie."

Throwing her a wilting glare, Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out. As the others laughed at the usual banter between the two captains, Pyrrha decided to be a little more friendly and waved a greeting, "How are you guys doing? Just coming back from a mission?"

Velvet smiled and enthusiastically nodded her head, "Mhmm! Had to help guard a build crew that was worried about Grimm attacks."

Coco scoffed, "In other words it was a boring babysitting mission. Only a handful of young Grimm showed up and Fox and Yatsuhashi handled them."

The two males of team CFVY simply nodded their heads, keeping to their silent personas.

Giggling at her captain's casual dismissal of their mission, Velvet added, "Is that why we had to go shopping on our way back?"

Raising a brow, Coco merely replied, "They were having a sale on scarves, why wouldn't we stop?" Turning back to the chuckling teens of team NNPR, Coco addressed their whiskered captain, "By the way, thanks for sending some of those scroll things our way, they were extremely helpful on our mission."

Shaking her head at her friend's attempt to mask her addiction, the rabbit eared Faunus added, "She means they were helpful in helping her carry more during her shopping."

Sighing at being outed, Coco patted Naruto on the shoulder and gave a quick two finger salute as she and her team continued on their way, "Well we gotta go fill out our mission report. See ya around Foxy!"

Both Fox and Yatsuhashi offered a short nod while Velvet cheerily waved a goodbye.

Watching the group of older teens walk off, Naruto smiled. Bumping into team CFVY, was always fun, and the few joint missions they had done together were just as interesting. Luckily, none of those missions turned out like their first one those months ago, but they were still fun. Recalling the one time he saw Coco actually use her weapon, he shivered. It was no wonder that she rarely used thing as much more than a bludgeon.

Finally reaching their dorm building, team NNPR as all too happy to climb into the elevator and wait for the technological piece of machinery to take them to their floor. Considering that they were technically on vacation, they had seen it fit to use the time to go full bore and push the limits of their training.

Of course, they had done an extensive amount of training before, but that was to get used to working together. Now it was time to improve and better themselves. However, none of them were really prepared for what their captain considered to be "training".

While they had seen some of the workouts and exercises Naruto did to keep himself in shape, they had never really seen him train.

Seeing their captain, who they had thought to be a prodigy of sorts, throw himself into his training with all his mind, body, and soul, was inspiring, to say the least. It motivated them to do the same in an effort to not simply sit on their asses and depend on him to bail them out in dangerous situations.

Of course with next week being the start of their second semester at Beacon, the four young teens had wisely decided that today would be the last day of their boot camp, needing the week to rest and recuperate.

"Hay-PIER, NNPR!"

Seven groans echoed in the hallway as Yang opened with one of her terrible puns.

"So how long did that one take you to come up with?" Naruto asked, turning around to see the four familiar faces of team RWBY coming out of their own room across the way.

"The whole semester," Blake sassed.

"You guys have no sense of humor," the busty blonde huffed.

Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "I'm pretty sure Princess could make better jokes, and that's saying something."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Weiss cried, indignantly.

No one dared to respond, only snickering at the upset rapier wielder.

Naruto patronizingly patted the shorter teen on the head, Weiss childishly swatting at the offending limb, "Nothing at all Princess."

Still giggling, but trying hard not to, lest she anger her partner, Ruby spoke up, "So you guys finish destroying another practice space?"

Sweat dropping, Naruto replied, "Jeez, are we really that bad?"

"I heard that Ozpin is thinking of charging you for the repair fees if it keeps happening," Yang answered cheekily.

Pyrrha chuckled sheepishly, "Well, thankfully we'll be taking it easy from now until the start of the semester."

"Speaking of takin it easy," Yang grinned as she slid behind Naruto and Pyrrha. Slinging her arms around the two, she continued, "Finally decided to take that step?"

Confused at first, Naruto and Pyrrha blushed a deep red when they saw that Naruto's arm was still wrapped around the red head's waist and her arm was casually slung over his shoulders. Instantly, the two supposedly highly trained warriors turned into stuttering teens, quickly parting ways.

Everyone else was more than happy to share a laugh at the expense of the pair, except for a certain raven haired Faunus. She had long since come to terms with her feelings regarding the whiskered blond, and had made several attempts to hint at said feelings. However Naruto was seemingly blind to all shows of affection bar the most obvious ones.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Blake refocused, "Leave them be Yang, they look tired and worn out."

Yang just grinned, "You're just saying that 'cause you're jealous, aren't you?"

Not saying anything, Blake shot her partner a withering glare and shook her head. She wouldn't deny it, but she wouldn't outright say it either. Though, she may as well have seeing as how obvious of a hint it was.

Luckily, or unluckily, for her, she was dealing with Naruto who was completely blind to the feelings of a girl who had literally stalked him, turned into a blushing stuttering mess anytime he was near, and even fainted if he got too close.

Rolling her eyes, Weiss reached into the pouch on her side and drew out a slip of paper, casually tossing it to the childish blond, "Whatever, here's that Glyph you wanted. I still don't get how you think it's gonna work."

Pocketing the slip of paper, Naruto pulled out one of his own and held it out for the Schnee heiress to examine, "Leave that to me. Oh! And here's the one I was working on before."

Now standing next to the blond, Weiss poured over the the complex mass of ink writings, and nodded her head, "So you used the basis of the sticking Glyph. But I don't get what was added here."

Taking a look at where the rapier wielder was pointing, Naruto began to chuckle, "Uh, well that's actually the makings of one of my exploding tags."

Eyebrow twitching, the white haired teen asked the obvious, "And why is that there?"

As the two lost themselves in their talk of archaic writings and Dust manipulation, the others could only stare in confused wonder. Even after seeing this exact thing happen before, none of them could really understand the sight before them.

Weiss and Naruto were like fire and ice. They bickered more than most siblings did and were by all rights, complete opposites. Seeing the two so casually chat about the complexities of their take on runes and the like, was a little unnerving.

"Still weird for anybody else?" Yang asked, feeling as if she were observing the strangest of phenomenon.

A nod of heads was her only answer, the others just as put off by the scene in front of them.

"You guys know we can hear you, right?" Weiss asked, eyebrow twitching.

Before anything else could happen, Naruto interjected, "Anyways, I think it's about time we get cleaned up now."

Taking in the sweaty and dirty state of the members of team NNPR, the girls of team RWBY nodded, Blake voicing the obvious, "Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

As the two teams separated, Ruby paused and turned around, "Oh! Naruto!" Said blond turned around and raised a brow before the younger teen continued, "Are we still heading down to Vale to stop at the AH shop?"

Sweat dropping Naruto admitted, "Almost forgot about that." Seeing the beginnings of the very dangerous "moe pout", the former shinobi was quick to add, "I'll message you after I'm done showering! Then we can head down, alright?"

Ruby only grinned and nodded her head in an affirmative, eager to visit her favorite store in all of Vale.

Hearing giggling, Naruto turned around and raised a brow when he saw his team shaking their heads at him. Wondering what they found so funny, he asked, "What?"

Entering their shared room, Nora was all too eager to exclaim, "Ruby can get you to do anything she wants."

Pouting, Naruto attempted to deny Nora's claim, "No she can't."

"She convinced you to buy her three pounds of strawberries," Ren added.

Shooting his male teammate a withering glare, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki replied, "I don't think you should be talking Mr. I Let Nora Paint My Nails."

"Hey! I think I did a pretty good job on his nails!" Nora responded.

Attempting to play peacemaker, despite the grin on her face, Pyrrha interjected, "Now, now guys, let's just get cleaned up and enjoy the rest of our summer break."

Throwing himself onto his bed, situated on the far end of the room next to Pyrrha's, Naruto nodded, "Pyrrha-chan is right, we've been working ourselves pretty hard. Time to enjoy our last week before the next semester."

Copying her captain, Nora allowed herself to sink into her own comfy mattress that sat between Pyrrha and Ren's beds, "You know, I just remembered, weren't we supposed to have bunk beds?"

Moving himself towards the small area table that held the pancake maker as well as his teapot, Ren was the one to answer, "We would've had to, but thanks to Naruto's seals we were able to keep most of our stuff, stored away, remember?"

"...so those weren't for me to store pancakes?"

Sighing, Ren shook his head, "No Nora, they were not for you to store pancakes in."

Naruto and Pyrrha only chuckled at their teammate's odd disposition, something they had come to accept as being a huge part of who she was.

Still, there were other things to do other than to lay around in their beds, after all, they still had a week to enjoy their time off from school and they were more than ready to take advantage of that that.

* * *

"That week went by way too fast," Naruto groaned, his voice muffled due to his head being buried in his arms.

Even still, his teammate's easily heard him and nodded their heads in agreement. Pyrrha, despite being the most studious out of the four them, wasn't exactly hyped after the day of classes they had and looked to be exhausted.

Across from them, team RWBY, sans their young team captain, agreed with a chorus of noncommittal groans.

Thankfully it was their lunch period and the teens were more than happy to take this time to lounge around in the lunch hall. Sadly, their little break was abruptly ended when Ruby suddenly appeared and slammed a binder of monstrous proportions onto the table they were gathered at, Naruto's head shooting up in alarm at the loud sound.

"Sisters! Friends!...Weiss," Ruby paused as Weiss gave an indignant cry at being left out, "four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

Yang shook her head at seeing her younger sister acting like a goofball, "This ought to be good."

A now alert Naruto just grinned widely, folding his arms behind his head, "Well Red, lay it on us."

Continuing from where she had left off, Ruby stretched out her arms in a dramatic fashion, "A dream that one day, the eight of us would one day, as friends, have the most fun anyone has had...EVER!"

Looking at the large and overstuffed binder more closely, Weiss raised a brow, "Did you steal my binder?"

Ruby just gave a sheepish grin, "I am not a crook."

Blake simply rolled her eyes and asked the obvious, "What are you talking about?"

The young team captain cheerily declared, "I am talking about starting off the semester with a bang!"

Grinning cheekily Yang announced, "I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!"

Complete silence ensued.

Blake gave her partner a glare, Weiss sighed and looked the other way, Naruto slammed his head back onto the table, Ren sighed, and Pyrrha could only sweat drop.

Nora...Nora wasn't a fan and tossed an apple at the blonde pun maker, managing to beam her right on the nose.

Deciding to ignore the commotion around her, Ruby explained, "Well I know we all had some fun during our break, but after the day we've had, I figured it'd be fun for all of us to have one last hurrah before we really buckle down for the semester."

"I really don't know whether to be proud or be scared of what you have planned," Weiss added.

Yang of course chose this time to grab her own apple and pitch it at Nora who quickly ducked under the flying fruit, letting it pelt the kid behind her. Grinning deviously, the hammer wielder picked up a pie, where she got it from no one knew, and attempted to answer back.

Nora's teammate's watched, wide eyed, as the baked food sailed through the air.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as, by some deus ex machina like intervention, the pie curved and changed course.

Horror, shock, and the struggle to contain uproarious laughter blossomed on everyone's face as Weiss was completely covered by whipped creamy goodness.

The next few minutes was a blur of screaming, curse words, and panic with no one having any sort of clue of what was going on. It was like the lunch hall had become ground zero for some sort of war.

As students ran out of the area to escape the madness, Nora began to cackle as she stood atop a precariously made tower of tables, chairs, and vending machines stacked near as high as the roof.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"

Perched just below her, Pyrrha stood with her arms crossed, Naruto and Ren standing vigilantly just below the red haired teen, arms crossing their chests.

Staring defiantly at the self-proclaimed queen, Ruby grasped a milk carton in her hand, "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be...delicious!"

Her teammates rallied behind her and gave out their own war cry.

Nora only pumped her fist into the air and leapt off her perch, declaring, "Off with their heads!"

Grinning deviously, Naruto formed a familiar cross shaped seal, several copies popping into existence.

"Alright men! Fire!"

The blond doppelgängers gave a chorus of affirmatives before grabbing the watermelons conveniently placed on a table directly in front of them.

Team RWBY, unfazed by the onslaught of flying melons, surged forward as a group.

"Yang!" Ruby called out.

Already seeing what her younger sister had in mind, the busty teen gave a cocky grin and moved ahead of her team. Bringing her arms up, the blonde delivered a vicious right hook that caused a watermelon to explode in a shower of juices. A quick jab from her left did the same for yet another melon. Punch after punch, Yang was having no problem stopping the volley of melons. Unfortunately, Naruto was an impeccable aim and managed to sneak one past her guard, the large green fruit slamming into her abdomen and sending her tumbling backwards.

Knowing her partner wouldn't go down after that, Blake hopped over Yang and rolled as she hit the ground, picking up a lengthy chain of sausages. Wielding the meat chain like she would her ribbon, the raven haired Faunus lashed out at the clones standing guard, the meat somehow hitting with enough force to actually pop the Shadow Clones.

Seemingly not bothered by the fact his clones had just been destroyed by meat slapping, Naruto moved forward and grabbed a handful of sliced pineapples. Using them like he would his shuriken, the Uzumaki Jinchūriki let the citrus slices spin through the air.

Blake took this in stride, moving her chain of sausages around in a flourish, knocking the yellow discs aside with barely a show of effort. She was however unprepared to suddenly find Naruto within her line of vision. As such, the teen Faunus could do nothing as a yard of bread of was jabbed into her abdomen, sending her flying backwards.

Weiss, through use of her Semblance, skated across the cafeteria floor, a sword fish in hand and aimed to skewer Naruto. Before she could actually get within the needed distance to do so, Pyrrha appeared wielding a loaf of bread equally as long as her partner's. Using said loaf, the emerald eyed teen batted aside Weiss's strike and moved to make her own.

Rolling with it, Weiss parried the strike with her fishy rapier, attempting to stab Pyrrha in the next instant. The Schnee Heiress was unprepared for her opponent to suddenly leap backwards, leaving her wide open to a swift strike from Ren who was dual wielding a pair of leek.

Leaping over her downed teammate, Ruby grabbed a nearby food try and began to surf across the tables, her cloak flapping behind her. Ducking she dodged under an assault from Ren. Shifting her center of balance, the young team captain performed a handstand, the food tray situated between her and the still airborne Ren. With a kick, the metal tray was shoved into Ren's face, sending him flying backwards.

Quickly spinning on her hands, Ruby managed to grab another food tray and continue speeding along the tables, her momentum not having dropped in the least.

Seeing the younger silver eyed teen making a beeline for her, Pyrrha shifted her legs, took aim, and tossed her large loaf of bread, sending it spiraling through the air.

Reaching under her, Ruby jumped and used the tray as a shield, saving her from getting hit by the deadly bread. In that short amount of time, Nora had fashioned herself a hammer out of a watermelon and pole. Using said weapon, the pancake addict appeared, and with a flash of pink, plowed her melon hammer into the raised food tray with enough force to send Ruby flying backwards and into a pillar.

"Sis!" Yang cried out.

The busty blonde was given no time to worry about her younger sibling, Naruto appearing in front of her. It was only thanks to her years of training under her father that she was able to backflip out of the way of what could have been a vicious haymaker.

Lilac eyes flickering to the sides, Yang grinned as she spotted two turkeys. Rolling to avoid a strike from Naruto's bread staff, the gifted blonde jammed her fists into the poultry, making them into something akin to boxing gloves. Bringing her fists into her chest, she began weaving around and under her fellow blond's swings, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Thankfully, Weiss was more than happy to lend her teammate some assistance, using a ketchup bottle to create a slippery river of tomato red. Catching it too late, Naruto mentally cursed as he lost his footing. Turning, the former shinobi's electric blue eyes widened as he saw Yang with her fist cocked back and a mischievous grin on her face.

_'This is gonna hurt like a bitc-'_

Sensing something heading her way, Pyrrha quickly rolled out of the way of a sausage strike from Blake just in time to see her captain barrel past where she had been. She and the others winced as they watched the spiky haired teen slam into the far wall with enough force to create a spider web of cracks.

"Owwww," Naruto groaned as he slid down the wall.

Pyrrha was the one to avenge her captain and partner, summoning up her Semblance to gather up a veritable wall of soda cans.

Team RWBY's jaws dropped as they were quickly beset by a literal wave of soda cans.

Quickly thinking on her feet, Ruby managed to escape being buried by quickly kicking up another tray and using it and her Semblance to ride across the aluminum wave.

Blake used her nimble form to quickly scale a nearby pillar and perched herself atop a flagpole.

Jumping up, Yang slammed her fist into a nearby table, kicking it into the air. Weiss jumped over her head and began to run across the large wooden construct, the blonde of team RWBY right behind her.

As the crest of the wave hit the table's underside, the two teens reached the edge of the used the momentum to propel themselves even higher into the air.

Catching the same table her sister and partner had used, Ruby was quick to reach the same height, popping up her makeshift surfboard and using it to slide across the length of the wooden ramp.

Reaching below her, Blake ripped off the flag underneath her. Rolling it up, the teen Faunus used it as a whip and wrapped the large length of fabric around Yang's wrist. With a tug, the ravenette managed to pull her partner up to the same pole she was situated atop.

Using her own Semblance, Ruby propelled herself forward, grabbing Weiss along the way, and perching the two of them on a pole just behind the one their two teammate's were crouched on.

As the wave of soda cans settled Ren called out, "Nora! Boost!"

Cupping her hands, the bubbly teen faced her childhood friend. Springing forward, the long haired male placed his foot into the cup of Nora's hands and pushed off, the hammer wielder pushing up and using her strength to propel him into the air.

Thanks to the boost from Nora, Ren managed to reach the same height as the four members of team RWBY. Reaching to his sides, the ponytailed teen revealed a pair of leeks in his hands. As gravity presented itself and Ren began to descend, he pulled back and let the leeks fly.

Blake dodged the flying vegetable by allowing herself to slip off the pole. Wrapping her hands tightly around the protrusion and using the velocity from her quick fall, the raven haired teen began to swing herself around the pole like a professionally gymnast. With a few quick rotations, Blake let go of the pole at just the right time to send her rocketing towards team NNPR's long haired male, feet first.

However before she could reach Ren, Pyrrha sent a loaf of bread careening into the Faunus' abdomen with enough force to completely stop Blake's momentum. Having been stopped dead mid flight, and having the wind knocked out of her, Blake could do nothing but fall into a pile of tables and chairs.

Yang attempted to follow through with her partner's assault on the still vulnerable Ren, shoving herself off the pole with her still turkey covered fist cocked back. Releasing a battle cry, the busty blonde brawler was a yellow missile intent on clobbering Ren.

Seeing the approaching danger, and having just landed, the tea lover managed to roll out of the way, just in time to avoid a devastating right hook from team RWBY's close quarters fighter.

As her fist met the concrete of the floor, the tiled ground cracked under the force of the strike, while her poultry glove exploded, unable to handle the force that Yang had put into her strike.

Pivoting on her foot, Yang attempted to catch Ren unawares and land a strike from her still turkey covered left hand. However, much to her surprise and horror, instead of seeing the long black hair of her target, she was instead greeted by the smiling face of Nora.

Seeing the orange haired teen with her watermelon hammer already poised to strike, Yang could only think of one thing, _'This is gonna hurt.'_

Everyone who was still conscious watched, wide eyed, as Nora sent Yang hurtling straight through the roof with a flash of pink and an explosion of watermelon particles.

Attempting to take advantage of Nora now being weaponless, Weiss skated across the ground, picking up the swordfish she had previously discarded.

Just as she was about to strike out, Naruto managed to switch places with his eccentric teammate thanks to a well timed Kawarimi. Unprepared for the sudden swap, Weiss was caught flat footed and unable to defend herself as the blond male swept her legs out from under her.

Going with his spin, Naruto reached out and grabbed a nearby club of meat. Twirling it, he slammed the hunk of meat straight into Weiss' back, sending her plowing into a pillar.

As the Schnee heiress rebounded off the hard surface, Ruby appeared just in time to catch her partner.

"Weiss? Nooooo!" The young team captain cried out, holding her fallen comrade in her arms

Laying her fallen teammate down, Ruby kicked off, quickly using her Semblance to swirl into naught but a red bullet. Going at the speeds she was, the aspiring Huntress was quickly kicking up the soda cans Pyrrha had used previously.

Seeing what the younger teen had planned, Naruto stepped forward and began to rapidly move through a sequence of hand seals.

With Ruby only yards away, a streamlined trail of soda cans just behind her, Naruto inhaled, expanding his chest before exhaling a great gale of visible wind.

"Fūton: Daitoppa _(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)_!"

Ruby and her trail of cans slammed full force into the wind tunnel and for a moment, it looked like she would overcome the jutsu. However, Naruto had pumped just enough chakra into it to quickly strip the cans and Ruby of their velocity. The beverages, lacking any sort of substantial weight or force, exploded under the high pressure of the winds while Ruby simply fell on her backside, before being sent tumbling backwards like a ball.

Cutting off his tie to the jutsu, Naruto grinned victoriously. However he, and the others, forgot about the soda which had exploded from the cans and been caught up in the Wind natured jutsu. Without the wind to support it, the mass of sugary drinks came down like a rainstorm, covering everyone in an assortment of sticky colors.

It was at this moment that Glynda Goodwitch slammed open the previously closed doors of the cafeteria, an irritated scowl on her face.

Without any sort of preamble, the Deputy Headmistress began to wave her riding crop around, tables and chairs either floating or tumbling back into place while the floors and walls were melded back into pristine condition. With a few more short flicks of her wrist, the blonde Huntress easily returned the previously war torn lunch hall back into a spotless and organized eating space.

Done with her fixes, Glynda turned to stare at the culprits with her bright green eyes, "Children...please, do not...play with your food."

While the cafeteria was now spotless and back in order, the same could not be said for the group of teens, all of them painted in a colorful combination of soda and assorted fruit juices. Sheepishly grinning, the teens could only nod as their strict teacher admonished them.

The brevity of the situation was completely shattered when, with a shout, Yang came back through the ceiling, landing atop Naruto, the two blondes breaking a table into pieces and cracking the ground underneath them.

Rubbing her head, Yang let out a groan of pain, "I think I may have broken something."

"Yeah, me," Naruto groaned out.

Looking below her, the lilac eyed teen sweat dropped as she realized she was sitting on top of Naruto's stomach.

"Whoops."

Glynda could only sigh in frustration as she watched the group of friends begin to laugh, heedless of the damage they had done.

"Let it go," came the raspy voice of Beacon's Headmaster.

Turning, Glynda released a sigh of frustration as she saw her friend and boss standing to her side.

Turning back to look at the teens, the blonde woman only shook her head as she witnessed Nora poking and prodding a still laid out Naruto, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

Gazing at the teens as Yang comically refused to get up off a complaining Naruto, Ozpin replied in his usual calm tone, "And they will be. But right now, they're still children. So, why not let them play the part?" Turning on his heel, the silver haired headmaster began to make his way out of the building, leaving with one last comment, "After all, it isn't a role that they'll have forever."

Unknown to him, a certain Bijū had overheard the conversation, having opted to stay out of the food fight.

Gazing at the Headmaster, Kurama scoffed, _'This era will never know the horrors that this world has seen so do not act like you know what bloodshed over territory, power, and greed looks like. I have seen whole villages and armies laid to waste by a single man. The likes of Hashirama, Madara, and even the gaki's father will never be seen again.'_ Turning his gaze to see his container laughing and smiling, the Kyūbi continued his internal monologue, _'Naruto is truly the last of his kind, a human apart from even the shinobi of our time, capable of changing entire landscapes with a single technique.'_

Huffing, the chakra entity allowed a small grin to spread across his muzzle as he watched the blond Uzumaki , _'And that may be for the best. This time has no need of men like them anymore. Naruto will finish what he and those before him started and that will be the end of it. Even you know that, don't you Ozpin?'_

* * *

Freshly showered and casually dressed in their pajamas, the group of eight friends found themselves comfortably relaxing in team NNPR's room, something they had been doing on a regular basis._  
_

As per the usual; Blake and Ren were enjoying some of the pistol users tea, Naruto was sat on his bed with Kurama curled up in his lap and Yang on the edge of his bed, Ruby had claimed the edge of Pyrrha's bed, Weiss had taken up the only chair in the room, and Nora laid out on her own bed.

"I still say we would have so won," Yang commented.

Grinning, Naruto replied, "I don't know, sure looked like me and my team had kicked your guys' butts pretty good."

Rising to stand on Naruto's bed, Yang began to stretch her arms, "You want another go, Foxy?"

The shinobi turned Huntsman rose to the challenge, "Just because you got a lucky shot in before doesn't mean it'll happen again."

Shaking her head at the antics of the two blondes, Pyrrha interjected, "Now, now you two, no need to turn our room into a war zone."

"Aww, but I had 10 lien on Captain Whiskers!" Nora cried.

Ignoring their teammates, Naruto and Yang began to wrestle, rolling off his bed in the process causing Kurama to jump onto Pyrrha's lap.

Ruby decided to throw in her two cents, "Well Yang is really good at punching stuff."

As if on cue, a cry of pain came from the side of Naruto's bed, Yang's head poking up as she cheered victoriously.

Nodding, Ren agreed, "True, but Naruto is as stubborn as an ox and can take a beating and keep going."

Yang cried out in surprise as Naruto pounced on her, starting their little match all over.

"Yeah, but Yang only gets stronger the more damage she takes," Blake added in attempt to defend her partner.

The grappling blondes rolled into a nearby nightstand, knocking over a pile of scrolls and papers.

"But Naruto has way more experience and his jutsu," Pyrrha jumped into the debate over which of the blondes was the stronger fighter.

Yang flipped Naruto over, locking the Jinchūriki into a full nelson.

Weiss, while not at all interested in the current conversation, did care for the image of her team, "He needs time to use his jutsu, and Yang is pretty quick on her feet. She wouldn't give him the time to use them."

Naruto somehow managed to squirm his way out of the hold, turning the tables on Yang and locking her into an armbar.

"Naruto has that cool fox thingy though!" Nora, being one responsible for the debate, chimed in.

Pyrrha nodded, "Right, he also has his Sage Mode, which makes him stronger than even Nora."

"Wait, so he has another transformation technique?" Ruby inquired.

Everyone turned, only to sweatdrop as they saw Naruto and Yang tangled into a mess of limbs, their faces comically squished together.

"C'mon Foxy, you know you wanna tap out!" Yang bit out.

Growling, the whiskered teen replied, "Not a chance, Firecracker!"

Weiss sighed in frustration, _'Why am I friends with these people?'_

"Alright you two, Ruby has a question," Pyrrha called over the ruckus, playing the peacemaker.

"What's up Red?" Naruto asked.

Taking advantage of the opening, Yang managed to roll herself on top of Naruto's back, grabbing both of his arms and pulling on them.

"Well, Pyrrha said something about you having another transformation thing," Ruby stated simply.

"Oh! My Sage Mode, yeah, I'll show you."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes and seemed to block out the rest of the world, even Yang who was still on his back pulling on his arms. It was a little odd for the others to see the normally hyperactive blond take on such a serene look. Pyrrha however, having been explained what Sage Mode was back during their excursion to Uzugakure, only smiled.

To everyone's surprise, Naruto's eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of honey brown, almost dark amber, colored orbs. The pupil now an all black slit that made the eyes resemble that of feline or fox.

Seemingly as if he was flicking off a fly, Naruto rose to his feet, sending Yang on to the floor.

Despite knowing that this was the same blond who had pranked Cardin several times and was more often than not stuffing his face with ramen, the aura around him felt completely different. Naruto's steadfast belief in his friends and his never say die attitude were infectious and the same could be said for his bouts of hyperactivity.

However, this new feeling, was something else entirely. It was as if they had been wrapped up in the warmest most plush blanket ever made. Every single part of them was completely at ease. Happy memories of safer, more childish times, flashed through each of their minds, lulling them further into a sense of security.

"This feels...completely different from when you used that fox cloak thing," Ren commented.

Releasing his control over the power, Naruto's eyes bled back into their normal sapphires, "Well it's a completely different kind of energy so it should be."

"Yeah, when you turned into that fox, it felt like I was being drowned in a sea of hatred and malice, like I should get as far away as possible," Blake began. Knowing of his harsh past due to that same power, the raven haired teen was quick to continue, "The only reason I didn't, was because I knew it was you and that you'd never hurt any of us."

Slinging an arm around her fellow blonde's shoulders, Yang nodded sagely, "Yeah, you can be pretty scary sometimes, Foxy, but we wouldn't have you any other way."

Nora shrugged, "I don't know, it was pretty cool when he did that thing with his hand and crushed the Bullhead! He was all like 'Rooooar! Fear me!'"

The group of teens shared a laugh at the antics of the eccentric teen.

* * *

"So, how goes your little plan to convince that blond brat to work with us," Torchwick asked sardonically.

Lounging in a chair with one of her slender legs crossed over the other, Cinder only smirked, "Slow, but progress has been made. It seems those last few...presents I gave him are quite the incentive."

Lighting up a cigar, the flame haired crime boss raised a brow, "What, you mean those stupid little rings? Why would he want some old pieces of jewelry? Gonna propose to some girl?"

The femme fatale rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, "No, those rings are incredibly significant to him and if we manage to find the remaining six, he may just well owe us a favor and if there's anything I've come to learn about him, Naruto will do everything in his power to fulfill a promise."

Torchwick only sneered, "Still don't get why we don't just kill him. As it is, he's already set us back by a few weeks."

Cinder let out a quiet, yet still mocking, laugh, "If you believe yourself capable of killing him, you are more than welcome to try. But allow me to remind you of the power you yourself saw and know that's not even close to the amount he keeps leashed up."

"Gee, didn't know you cared," Torchwick bit out.

The raising of a delicate brow was his response, "Don't delude yourself Roman. You have been a very helpful player in my plan, but do not believe yourself irreplaceable. What I am more concerned about is the devastation Naruto will bring down if you anger him. It wouldn't do well for my plans if a chunk of Vale was destroyed because of your folly." Without even waiting for a response, Cinder turned on her heel and began to saunter out, "Oh, and begin packing. We're beginning phase two."

When the ebony haired woman was well out of earshot, Torchwick scoffed, "Destroy half of Vale? Brat's strong, but not that strong. And just remember, you were the one who said I could try."

* * *

**(Omake #5:** Prank King and Queen**)  
**  
Cardin Winchester smirked. It was the first day of the new semester, he and his team's standing in their class ranking had risen, no random embarrassing accidents had befallen him, and everybody seemed to finally be forgetting about his match against that irritating blond. Things were finally looking up for the captain of team CRDL.

Slipping on his freshly polished armor, Cardin strutted out of his dorm and began to make his way to his first class of the day.

However, the teen began to notice a strange thing happening around him. For some odd reason, as he passed people, they would either begin to laugh or whisper to each other, their looks centered on him. Raising a brow, he decided to shrug it off. They students of Beacon were a strange bunch after all.

Walking into the arena Glynda Goodwitch had designated for their class, the entire group of teens could not help themselves and erupted into a cacophony of laughter and pointing upon seeing the short haired male.

"What is wrong with all of you!?" Cardin shouted, fed up with all laughter.

"Mr. Winchester! I have no idea what made you think this was ok, but allow me to set you straight - clothing must be worn at all times outside of your dorm!" Glynda exclaimed.

Confused, Cardin looked down only to gape in horror. Somehow, where once there had been a set of freshly polished armor was now only his bare skin. The worst part was that the only thing blocking the more intimate parts of his anatomy from being on display was a pair of bright pink boxers with the word "Saucy" bedazzled onto the backside, a winky face of the same fake jewels embedded to the side.

"Wh-wha-I," Cardin began to stutter out, unable to comprehend how this had happened without his noticing.

"Public indecency is against this Academy's rules, Mr. Winchester! Come with me so we may decide your punishment!" Glynda growled out, a look of barely restrained fury burning in her bright green orbs.

A still bewildered Cardin was forcibly led out of the arena, the other students still laughing, many of them now in tears and gasping for air.

Amongst the roar of hysterics, a grinning Jinchūriki high-five'd an innocent looking heterochromatic eyed teen.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Yang addressed the culprits, "How did you two manage that?"

Naruto only whistled innocently, "Manage what Firecracker? I have no idea what you're talking about. Me and Neo were here the whole time."

"That was terrible!" Ruby exclaimed, eyes still watering from laughing so hard. Of course, while she tried her hardest to seem disappointed, she not so discreetly slipped Naruto a congratulatory low-five.

As Glynda walked back into the arena, a look of anger still etched into her face, the teens all attempted to quell their laughter, though some could not help the few stray chuckles that escaped as the Deputy Headmistress began her lesson.

It was on this day that the crowned Prank King of Konoha - now Beacon - gained an equally mischievous accomplice, a Queen to his King. Not many could quite say how the partnership began, only that those targeted by the two would be left scarred and embarrassed.

Poor Cardin did not know the horrors that would befall him in the coming semester, but popular opinion would be that he deserved it.

* * *

**AN:** Guys! Guys! I did it! I finished another chapter!

Joking aside, my passion for this story has been reignited by the awesomeness that Volume 3 is panning out to be. Although I'm not a huge fan of Sun and Neptune due to their almost mandatory relationship roll when concerned with Blake and Weiss (though Neptune and Weiss seem to be in question after episode 2) I am a fan of them as characters, especially considering who voices them. Having Gavin thrown onto the same team as them and voicing the RWBY equivalent of Peter Pan was even better.

My only complaint is that the motions, especially the fighting, seem to be a whole lot less fluid when compared to Volumes 1 and 2, though that is to be expected due to the loss of the man responsible for said animation.

Qrow also seeming to be an old drunkard is hilarious and I can't wait to see him in action.

If the opening is any indication of the tone for this volume, shit is about to get real.

Also, NORA IS THOR. I REPEAT NORA IS THOR AND I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MOST OF HER SEMBLANCE. FUCK YEAH.

In regard to this story, I find it fitting that, with RWBY moving to Volume 3 and this story celebrating its one year anniversary about a month back, this story do the same on move onto Volume 2, canonically.

Fret not, some of the stuff talked about, like NNPR's previous missions, and other interactions will be delved into more, but I wanted to go ahead and move stuff along.

In celebration though, thank you all! A year in, 1291 reviews, 160k plus words, and 2k plus follows and favorites. I could never have thought I could write something deserving of that many people liking it. This is seriously awesome and for those worried, I WILL be finishing this. There will be a definite end to this story...at some point.

In that regard, I've decided to slow my updates on this, if you couldn't already tell, due to my not wanting to catch up to RWBY itself. I want to keep at least a volume between this story and the actual release, just because I don't want to catch up and be like "Well...shit...what do I do now?"

That said, I do have a lot of...filler I guess, and non-canon stuff planned for Volume 2. This includes a lot of stuff concerning what happened to the Shinobi Era, the Bijū and a lot of other tie in's to more closely blend the two series. Not too sure right now how many chapters that will span, but it will be quite a few. So, strap in, buckle up, and get ready for some plot.

On another note, this slower pace will allow me to really hone the quality of the chapters as well as work on other stories so I don't burn myself out on this one. I know a lot of people have been clamoring for the second chapter of my latest shot at the Naruto x Highschool DxD genre and I have that Yandere Hinata story coming along as well. Hopefully within the next week or so, you'll all see those releases.

As a heads up, BlackMagic622 is currently working on the next chapter for the Reading of this, so keep an eye out!

I've said what I have to!

Until early next chapter!

PEACE OUT


	21. Chapter 21

**AN:** RT needs to calm the fuck down. I can not take so many reveals and shit in so few episodes. It's fucking with me man.

Also... HA! I was fucking right about how strong experienced Hunstman could be! You look me in the damn eye and tell me Qrow or Winter wouldn't give most Jounin or other high tier ninja a run for their money! Best part? They weren't even fucking serious! Qrow never even busted out his scythe and Winter never revealed the full extent of what is apparently the fucking Schnee bloodline.

Gonna start calling Volume 3 the "I was fucking right about shit" season.

Also, since the revelation came about regarding the fact that the Schnee family are the only known family that's Semblance is hereditary, I'll say it now. The Schnee are the Uchiha...well their descendants, but it makes sense! I won't go into the details of how I think it works, nor will it really be a huge plot tool or anything. It'll act as another one of those small things that back up my idea that the RWBY-verse is the distant future of the Naruto-verse.

In other RWBY news, the manga looks fucking great. I can't wait to see what happens in that area. That also brings up the game, Grimm Eclipse. So that's three sources of canon (Show, Manga, Game), each apparently with its own storyline and villain...RT...why you do this to me?

I can't make any promises of either of the two's plots making it into this story as both seem to be more akin to filler stuff to help flesh out the world, but I will more than likely be taking from both as they seem to be pretty interesting additions.

I mean c'mon, someone is mutating Grimm? That could be something to have fun with, especially since in my little story Grimm are pure nature chakra constructs.

There were very few questions that couldn't be answered by the story itself, so I'll be skipping the usual C/C/Q thing that I usually do.

The biggest thing though was the pairing. Most seemed content enough to sit back and see where it went, like myself, and others are still cheering for a specific pairing or a harem. I've received butt loads of suggestions from each side and each has a valid reason, hell even the harem has some rather poignant points to it. But like I said, I'm still really unsure and am happy to sit back and let the story decided, in a manner of speaking.

I will say this though, the Dance will be a pivotal moment for the pairing aspect. Whether that means a pairing will be established then or what...well you'll have to wait and see!

...shit...I was trying to cut this AN short...oh well.

**Story time!**

* * *

As the sun began its daily track across the horizon, the chill of a cold night still lingering in the air, the four teens of team NNPR found themselves up and combat ready whilst most of their fellow students were still asleep in their beds.

Of course, seeing as how this was far from being their first time doing so, the teens were wide awake and alert, already used to having to wake up at a time where the sun's light had yet to start warming the earth.

With a great inhale, taking in the crisp air of the early morning, Naruto took a sidelong glance at his teammates, "You guys all good?"

One last check to ensure that they had the necessities as well as a scroll from their captain that housed anything else they may need, creature comfort or otherwise, and the three gave a nod of confirmation.

"It's a simple extermination mission, it shouldn't take so long," Ren stated confidently in his usual tone.

Giggling Nora commented, "Yeah, but you never know with Captain Whiskers! We might run into some super ancient Grimm or have to fight some rogue group of warriors who know about Kurama and want to use him for some nefarious scheme!"

While they each had a good laugh at Nora's over exaggerating, Pyrrha added, "As funny as it is, she isn't wrong."

Hanging his head, Naruto pouted, "One time guys! One time!"

Ren raised a brow, "Really? What about that time we were on a mission to escort some books, but ended up finding a scroll from your time and had to protect it from that group of black market mercenaries?"

"Oh! Oh! Or when we were supposed to retrieve that super rare flower and it ended up being guarded by a whole pack of old Beowulves!" Nora chimed in helpfully.

Smiling sheepishly, Pyrrha put another nail in the proverbial coffin, "There was also that mission we had here in Vale when we got sidetracked stopping one of Roman Torchwick's thefts."

Nora began to laugh when she and the others turned to see their captain sitting cross legged on the floor, a depressed aura around him as he poked at the floor. Worried for the blond, Pyrrha knelt down and attempted to console the downtrodden Jinchūriki whilst Ren simply shook his head at the antics of his friends.

Doing a quick one eighty in attitude, Naruto was back on his feet, grinning, "Well this mission will be different! We go in, get rid of some Grimm, and we're back before lunch time!"

Without a word more, the blond began marching towards the waiting Bullhead, the other three following after their danger magnet of a captain.

Boarding through the side doors, a familiar voice greeted the team, "Hey kiddies! Off on another mission?"

Already familiar with the voice of the man who had become their usual pilot, Naruto threw up a thumbs up, "Yup! Off to exterminate some Grimm that have been causing trouble near the smaller villages."

Chuckling as he ran over the various checks necessary to make sure they wouldn't crash and burn mid flight, the older male called back, "Not gonna find some ancient treasure today?"

Giggling at the jab at her friend, Pyrrha shook her head, "We're hoping we don't today, Nathan."

The now named Nathan laughed as he looked into the back to see a certain blond sitting in a corner looking like someone had kicked his puppy, "Well, let's get going! Hopefully I can get home to the missus and not have some harrowing story about you kids!"

Pulling on the controls, the older male pulled the massive piece of metal into the air with practiced ease. A few seconds later and the Bullhead was speeding above Vale, the rising sun at its back.

From his office at the top of Beacon, Ozpin watched as the vehicle left, carrying four of his students to their next mission.

"So, that was the famous team NNPR?"

Looking to his side, the silver haired Headmaster took a glance at the imposing and well dressed figure that stood to his right before turning his gaze back to the city of Vale, now bathed in the warming rays of a rising sun, "Yes. A group of talented and powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses to be."

Arms folded behind him, the well dressed man made a noncommittal hum, "I see. And the blond, he's the one who supposedly is able to control the very elements themselves?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, a natural born leader. Powerful and experienced beyond his years," Ozpin replied before taking a sip from his ever present mug of coffee.

The man frowned, "I'm sorry, but I saw none of that. It looked like you were deploying a group of children, not a group of trained warriors meant to defend the people of Vale, more so the blond and the orange haired girl. The only redeeming grace of that team is Pyrrha Nikos, as far as I can see."

Already used to the blunt manner in which his guest spoke, Ozpin gave no verbal response, turning around and bringing up the hologram projector that sat at the middle of his office. With a simple button press, a video feed blurred to life.

On it the man watched as the blond he had previously called childish breathed out a stream of flames that coalesced and formed into the monstrous form of a dragon, the "orange haired girl" plowing her hammer into the ground with enough force to crater it and either daze or kill several Grimm at once, finally ending with the group of four taking down the Deathstalker they had encountered during their entrance exam using a plan formed by the whiskered captain.

Before he could form a rebuttal, more clips began to play, this time focused entirely on team NNPR's captain. As well traveled and experienced as he was, the older male was shocked to see the blue eyed teen summon a torrential wave of water, sending it crashing down upon several Grimm. Then played a clip of the same teen creating a vacuum of visible air, the winds roaring at such a speed that they stripped the nearby trees of their foliage. Finally came one of the most shocking and awing displays thus far, the blond wielding a massive ninja star comprised entirely of flames, using it to meet an absolutely massive Nevermore hundreds of feet in the air.

The detonation of the technique shocked even the experienced Huntsman, leaving him wide eyed as flames consumed the sky in a blaze of beauty and raw power.

Ending the series of clips, Ozpin finally replied, "As you can see, young Mr. Uzumaki is extremely capable of leading his teammates and is quite the impressive force on the battlefield. Just because he does not act as such off the field does not discredit his merits, James."

James Ironwood, general of Atlas and its forces, turned his gaze to his longtime friend as he regained his composure, "I...see. I had heard the reports but never thought that he was capable of such feats. Now I can see why your council pushed for them to be put onto active duty."

Ozpin frowned, "Yes, as unfortunate as that is, team NNPR have performed exceptionally well and have a number of missions already under their belt."

Before the two could continue their conversation, the elevator that led to the office opened, revealing an uneasy and somewhat nervous blond teen dressed in all white armor with only a simple sword sheathed at his side, "Uh, sorry to interrupt sir."

Raising a brow at the teen, Ozpin turned to regard Ironwood, recognizing the armor as that of belonging to the Huntsman of Atlas. Seeing the curious gaze, Ironwood answered, "Ah, yes. Ozpin, I'd like to introduce you to my...protege of sorts, Jaune Arc."

* * *

"Nora! Let's give 'em some hail!"

Saluting her captain, Nora hefted her hammer up and with a mighty strike, slammed it into the ground, producing a crater a few yards deep while also causing a huge amount of rock shards and gravel to be thrown up into the air.

Her part done, Nora hopped away only for Naruto to flash through a quick sequence of handseals, "Fūton: Daitoppa _(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)_!"

The previously airborne chunks of a earth were quickly sucked up into the tunnel of high speed winds, turning them into deadly spikes that pelted the advancing group of Beowulves. Struck by both the force of the winds and earth shards, the Grimm were unable to do more than stand there and be torn to shreds by the combined attack.

As Naruto cancelled the jutsu, leaving a few dozen or so Grimm still standing, barely, Ren and Pyrrha appeared at his side and began to unload a hail of gunfire, picking off the stragglers.

Between Pyrrha's eagle eye like accuracy and Ren's rapid fire SMG's, the two made quick work of the leftovers. The team of four calmly surveyed the quickly fading bodies of the Grimm, looking for any that could have possibly escaped the two widespread attacks, as unlikely as it was.

Tossing his hands behind his head, Naruto grinned and began to march back towards the village that had requested the mission, "Well, I'd say that's a job well done!"

The other three members made to follow their captain, amused at his laid back attitude, only to pause as they felt the ground beneath them begin to shift in an almost imperceptible manner. Looking at each other to confirm what they had just felt, they shrugged when, after a few seconds, nothing else happened, dismissing it as so,etching they had imagined.

As they attempted to take a step yet again, Pyrrha's eyes widened as she saw the ground begin to bulge and rise just underneath the feet of their whiskered teammate, "Naruto!"

Looking underneath him, the blond Jinchūriki had to hold back from using every curse word he knew as the gaping maw of a massive snake like Grimm emerged from the ground.

"NOT AGAIN DA-," was all Naruto could get out before he was swallowed whole by the King Taijitu.

Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha could only stare in shock, unable to comprehend the fact that they had just watched their captain be consumed by a Grimm as easily as one would swallow a pill.

The Taijitu turning its burning gaze on them, licking its lips in a display of hunger, snapped the teens out of it, forcing them to prepare themselves to fight off the beast that had just claimed the life of their blond friend and teammate not even a few seconds ago.

The massive slithering creature made to lunge at them, ready to eat them as easily as it had Naruto, only for it to stop midway, a look of pain and irritation suddenly etched on its face. The teens began to back up slowly as the Grimm coughed up a cloud of black smoke, looking quite uncomfortable.

To the remaining members of team NNPR's surprise, a familiar blade pierced through the body of the King Taijitu, shining with gore. In a vicious display of brutality, the blade cut a bloody swath around the circumference of the snake Grimm, lopping it in half.

Standing amidst a pile of fluids and gore, still holding the blade of Hi no Ishi in one hand, and panting in what looked to be frustration, Naruto glared at the remains of the fading Taijitu, "I...really...REALLY...hate snakes."

* * *

The uproarious laughter of a certain busty blonde rang throughout the cafeteria as she and the rest of team RWBY listened to Nora excitedly detail their latest mission, putting a lot of focus on the fact that Naruto had briefly been on his way to becoming the appetizer for a hungry Grimm.

Said whiskered teen angrily poked at his tray of food as the story was told.

"Ew. That is just revolting," Weiss gagged out, not at all pleased with the imagery.

Blake, knowing of Naruto's less than stellar luck when it came to missions, shook her head and asked, "What did you mean by again?"

Not having caught that detail before, the group of friends turned to the Jinchūriki in curiosity. Knowing there was no way he could escape the curiosity of not just Blake, but Yang, Pyrrha, and Ruby, Naruto sighed as he began to explain the beginning of his path to the dislike of anything remotely serpentine.

"Every few years or so, something called the Chunin Exams would happen. While most thought of it as a way to test a village's Genin to see if they were ready for the responsibility of being a Chunin, it was apparently a substitute for war. It was where each village would send the best of the best of their Genin teams to show off the strengths of its shinobi so they could earn more clients as well as warn the other villages. As far as I know, it was supposed to be three trials that tested us on what the village hosting it thought were important for being a Chunin with the last event being a tournament with all of the Kage, Daimyo, and nobles attending." Not really having paid enough attention during his time to know the full history of the exams, Naruto waved his hand nonchalantly, "Anyways, when it came time for Konoha to host it, my sensei nominated me and my teammates to participate. The first test was some stupid written exam where the whole point was to cheat and not get caught. The second part took place in this creepy forest code named Training Ground Forty Four, or The Forest of Death."

The rest of the group, who had been listening in rapt attention, pulled back at hearing the name of the training ground. There was no way a village run by trained assassins would call a training area the Forest of Death without damn good reason.

"...well...that's not ominous at all," Ruby nervously chuckled.

"Yeah, your home village really knows how to name 'em," Yang added.

Out of sheer curiosity, Ren asked, "Why exactly was it called the Forest of Death?"

Scratching his head, Naruto sheepishly admitted, "I actually don't know."

Sweat drops all around.

The blond was quick to add, "But it might have had to do with the fact that it was full of man eating plants bigger than most trees, tigers twice the size of normal ones, and bears as big and scary as any Ursa Major. Or the flesh eating leeches the size of dogs. Or the poisonous plants that took up most of the area. Or-"

"Ok, ok, we get it! There was a good reason it was called the Forest of Death!" Weiss shouted, shivering in fear at the idea of such a place existing.

Seeing the horrified, disgusted, and uncomfortable looks on everyone's faces, Naruto decided to move on, "Well the objective of the test was to gather two scrolls, one you were given at the start and the other you had to take from an enemy team and deliver to the tower at the middle of the forest. We had five days to do that. It would have gone ok if not even an hour into the test I was separated from my team by some wind jutsu. Next thing I know is I'm coming to in the middle of nowhere. Turn around and bam!...I'm in the stomach of some asshole snake."

"...pft...w-what?" Yang asked, trying her hardest to not break down into a fit of side aching laughter.

"Ewwww," Ruby said aloud, voicing what most of them were thinking.

Palm to face, Blake asked, "I don't want to know, but how in the world did you get out?"

It was only then that Naruto began to grin cheekily, "Simple, I made so many clones that the scaled bastard exploded!"

"...ewwwwwwwwww," the black and red haired leader of team RWBY voiced, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"I have to agree with Ruby, that is beyond disgusting," Weiss said, looking a little green in the face.

"Aww, I love you too partner!" The youngest of group proclaimed, attempting to pounce on the opportunity to grow closer to the frigid heiress.

"No," was Weiss' cold rejection.

Ignoring the usual banter between the two, Ren shook his head, "So these exams were a normal occurrence?"

Naruto shrugged casually, not as thrown off by the idea of throwing a bunch of adolescents into a kill or be killed test that tested the limits of their mental fortitude all for the glory and pride of a village, "Yup."

"Your time really was insane Foxy," Yang spoke up.

Having lived through it, Naruto shrugged again, "Not really. I mean me and my teammates had only been together for a few months when we participated and we came out alive."

"A few months!?" Weiss questioned, knowing that Naruto's old team hadn't been the most functional.

Worry etched onto her features, Pyrrha added, "How could your sensei have thought that was a good idea? I understand it was a different time, but to throw you into such a dangerous exam with so little preparation seems irresponsible."

Instead of being offended, Naruto chuckled, "That's a pretty spot on description of Kakashi-sensei. He taught me a lot and was always dependable and a powerful ninja, but he wasn't exactly the best role model. Used to go around reading this porn book called Icha Icha Paradise."

Blushing at the memory of when he had told of her what the book was, Blake questioned, "Isn't that the series your godfather wrote?"

Having forgot that he had told the raven haired teen that little tidbit, Naruto began to blush, "Heh. Yeah, Ero-Sennin was the one who wrote the Icha Icha series."

"Wait, so your sensei was super into reading some...adult books that your godfather was responsible for writing?" Ruby asked, a blush staining her own cheeks now.

Hanging his head in shame, the student of two perverts could only nod his head.

The table erupted into laughs at the expense of the blond Uzumaki.

"Jeez Whiskers, trained by two huge perverts? I don't know if I feel safe around you anymore," Yang teased.

"I'm not a pervert!" Naruto huffed impudently.

Wrapping her arms around her fellow blond in such a way that his face ended up dangerously close to her chest, Yang continued, "Don't worry, even if Blake and Pyrrha turn you away because of you being a perv, you'll always have me!"

Being so close to the source of many leering eyes, Naruto could nothing but sputter and blush heavily, unable to form a coherent thought.

"Ew, Yang! Do that stuff when we're not in public!" Weiss called out, turning her head away.

"My eyes!" Ruby cried out.

Ren was meanwhile trying his hardest to hold back a struggling Nora, "No! We can't let her ruin the shipping! We still don't have a name for it yet!"

Blushing at the implication, Pyrrha questioned her teammate, "What do you mean shipping?"

Nora turned to regard the redhead as if she was explaining the most obvious thing in the world, "You and Naruto as a couple, duh! All the cutest couples have one. Now help me stop Yang! You have to defend your man!"

By this point Pyrrha's normally fair cheeks were close to matching her hair, "W-What? He's not...we're not..."

"You know, I feel like Blake would be better suited for him," Weiss added suddenly, surprising everyone.

Now it was Blake's turn to blush, "H-Huh!?"

The Schnee heiress leaned back and folded her arms, "Well it's like they say 'Opposites attract' right? Besides, Blake might actually be able calm him down."

Before any of the involved parties could get a word in, Ruby decided to throw her own two cents in, "Opposites may attract, but I think Yang and Naruto are like two peas in a pod!"

As the group of teens descended into a debate over the love affairs of their friends Naruto couldn't help but to wonder,_ 'Who would I choose?'_

* * *

"Hey look who it is, my favorite customer!" A grinning Geoff greeted from behind the counter of the AH store. Seeing a familiar red cloaked teen following close behind, the tattooed store owner added, "And you brought the weapon nut too!"

"Don't be mean to the customers!" A female voice admonished playfully.

Laughing at the pair, Naruto greeted the couple, "Hey Geoff. Hey Griffon. How's Millie?"

Standing to the right of the mustached Achievement Hunter was his equally tattooed and beautiful wife, Griffon. Naruto had met the woman on one of his many trips to the weapons store and had been impressed by how easily she matched the antics and overall madness that was the group of man children that was Achievement Hunter.

Geoff grinned, "Probably kicking Gavin's ass right about now."

Rolling her eyes at her husband, Griffon asked, "So what brings you two here today. Another shopping spree?"

Blushing in embarrassment at the amount of money she had been spent the last time she was at the store, Ruby kicked at the ground with her boots, "No."

Shaking his head, Naruto reached into his jacket to bring out a simple scroll that he tossed to Geoff, "The usual delivery of sealing scrolls and exploding tags."

Stowing it underneath the counter for later, the head of the AH crew sighed, "Ya know, I thought those slips of yours would be selling like hot cakes, but everyone seems to have taken a shine to the scrolls instead."

Ruby interjected, "Well it does kind of make sense, after all most of us use Dust if we need a little more firepower and Naruto is the only one who knows how to use them with his kunai."

The blond former shinobi shrugged, "She's right. Besides, I hardly use them myself these days. I've been using Hi no Ishi a lot more, especially now that it has some really nasty long range uses."

Griffon nodded, "Yeah, I remember seeing Gavin having a field day modding that weapon of yours."

"You still haven't told me what it is that they did to it!" Ruby cried out indignantly.

Chuckling, Naruto decided to take pity on the weapons enthusiast, "You know how I can use Hi no Ishi to cast some jutsu?"

Remembering the first time she had seen the blond use the staff back during their entrance exam, the silver eyed teen nodded.

"Well that's because I originally made it in a way that I could funnel my chakra through it. I don't know exactly how, Kurama said something about chakra treating the metal, but anyways I just had Gavin carve out a spiral groove inside the staff part that hides the blade. By pushing chakra down the blade, the grooves form the chakra into a bullet and give it the spin like the barrel of any gun."

The proverbial light finally clicked in Ruby's head, "I get it! Instead of using some form of combustion that most of our weapons use, yours is completely dependent on the force and amount of power you put into it! You can custom make your own shells and even make them non-lethal by choice."

"Yeah, Ryan was going on and on about how ingenious the science behind it is or some crap. Kept saying your weird Semblance was so amazing," Geoff casually waved off.

Ruby was all too happy to agree, "It is though! Naruto has huge amounts of energy to use so he has a near endless supply of bullets that he can easily change to fit his need! Plus the bonus that he never has to actually reload his gun! Then there's the fact that since he can turn his energy into the elements, he could do the same with his shells! The possibilities are endless!"

Naruto, Geoff, and even Griffon began to sweatdrop as the young teen's eyes turned into stars and drool began to flow from her her mouth like a fountain.

"Hey, I just mopped the floor!" Geoff protested.

With a blush Ruby reclaimed her senses and sheepishly apologized.

"So what's going on with you and Cinder? I didn't know you were into older women Naruto," Griffon teased.

"Goddamnit Michael! Stop telling everybody that I like Cinder!" Naruto shouted out, a blush on his cheeks.

The only response he got was the signature uproarious laughter of said AH member coming from the back room of the shop.

"You like Cinder!?" Ruby asked, looking equal parts shocked and disappointed. While Naruto tried to vehemently deny that, the younger teen had lost herself in her own imagination, "But then you'll never date Yang and we'll never be brother and sister! It would have been perfect!"

"Oh ho, so blondie's trying to play the field, eh?" Geoff asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"No wonder you wear all those rings!" Griffon accused, joining in on the teasing.

At this point, with everyone either laughing at him or trying to pair him up with someone, Naruto could do little more than bang his head on the counter top.

_'Why me?'_

* * *

While he wasn't exactly happy about it, Naruto knew he was a danger magnet. He knew that, for whatever reason, he would eventually find himself tangled up in some kind of grand mess, whether he liked it or not.

That said, he found himself quite happy with his life here in Remnant. Sure he missed his precious people, dearly so, but thanks to the new bonds he had formed with his own teammates and the girls of team RWBY, the grief and sadness was slowly being healed. Besides that, he knew for a fact that none of his precious people from his time would have wanted him to sit on his ass and sulk, that was Sasuke's thing after all.

Even more to the point, despite having been in Remnant for a year and some months now, he could still vividly remember the look on Kakashi's masked face and his words as the Jounin performed his Kamui.

"You've done so much for us, now it's time we do for you. Go, live your life, the life you never got to. Be happy. Find people who will love you and never stop being you. Minato-sensei and Kushina-chan would be proud of who you've grown to be, I know I am."

Even with blood pouring from his body, his implanted Sharingan eye spinning madly as he used it to perform its signature Jikūkan Ninjutsu _(Space-Time Ninja Technique)_, the silver haired leader of Team 7 had managed to pull off that eye-smile of his.

All that in mind, Naruto would be damned if he let everyone from his time down by wallowing in self loathing. Just wasn't his thing.

However, staring down at the item laid out atop Professor Ozpin's desk, the blond couldn't help but feel his heart tighten, his cerulean orbs misting over as a myriad of memories hit him at once.

Sat opposite to his headmaster, and a man whom he learned was the general of the kingdom of Atlas, the blond Jinchūriki could feel his heart racing as his eyes traced every detail of the item, trying as hard as he could to find any discrepancy that could point towards this all being fake.

Deep down though, he knew there would be no such thing. There was no denying it.

Laid flat out on Ozpin's desk was a tattered piece of cloth. Attached to the torn and clearly ancient piece of fabric was a metal plate bearing a symbol Naruto was all too familiar with. After all, it was a symbol he had proudly worn since he was a child, a symbol that, to him, meant home and so much more. A symbol he had thought he would never see again after being sent centuries into the future.

Cerulean eyes gazed forlornly at the hitai-ate _(Forehead Protector)_ emblazoned with the symbol of his home, Konohagakure. Despite the many cracks, dings, and layers of rust that covered it, Naruto was easily able to make out the familiar leaf with ease.

"What...what is this Professor Ozpin?" Naruto barely managed to choke out, near drowning in memories.

Staring into the hazy eyes of his student, Ozpin explained, "It is a relic that General Ironwood came across during his travels and has since kept. Seeing as how you wear one not too unlike it, I found it pertinent to ask you if you had any knowledge about what it was specifically."

It was at this point that the Atlas leader spoke up, "I happened upon it during my younger years on a mission here in Vale actually. Despite the difficulty of the mission, my team and I managed to complete it without undue damage and so I've kept it as something of a lucky charm. However you seem to be much more knowledgeable about its purpose."

Despite knowing that the two Huntsmen were doing this not out of a curiosity for the item, but in a bid to try and have him divulge more of his secrets, Naruto was hard pressed and much too distracted to lie, "They're called hitai-ate, or forehead protectors. While they were meant to do that, their most important function was to serve as a kind of ID."

Raising a brow, Ozpin folded his hands in front of his face and leaned forward, "An ID? How so?"

Snapping out of his reverie and turning to match the steely gaze of Ironwood as well as the curious one of Ozpin, Naruto came up with the best cover he could, "From what I learned from my mom's diary, the ancient villages used them as a way to signify who you allied with, which village you would live and die for."

Ironwood seemed unimpressed, "A rather simple and easily fooled system, no? After all, wouldn't it be easy to simply don an enemies headband and infiltrate their village?"

Naruto shrugged, "People held more pride for their village and home than that. Even those who abandoned their villages still wore their headband, scratching it out to show that they had literally cut ties with their home."

Narrowing his eyes, James stepped up and continued, "And how exactly did your mother know this? How did you get your hands on one? To my knowledge, very few of these items even exist, most of them on display in museums."

Seeing where the man was attempting to go with his questioning, Naruto narrowed his eyes and defiantly stared the general down, "My family took care to tell the children stories of that time. Even when our numbers dwindled down, the stories were still told, my mom just happened to write them down." Turning his gaze elsewhere, the blond continued, "As for this headband, I found it amongst the ruins of Uzushio and seeing as I'm the last of my clan, I took it and now wear it as a way to show my pride in my name."

Knowing how his friend was, and seeing the anger at being disrespected by someone he viewed as below him, Ozpin interrupted, "Yes, well. The main reason we've showed you this is because we want to see if we can find anymore artifacts such as these where General Ironwood found his. In light of that, we're organizing another expedition with you and your team again."

Gritting his teeth at how the man had claimed something he had no right to, a headband that had to be earned, not found and taken, Naruto decided to bite the proverbial bullet and nodded his head, "When do we depart?"

Seeing the anger in the young teen's eyes, Ozpin raised a brow but nonetheless answered, "Two days from now. Professors Panathenaia and Oobleck will be accompanying you again as well."

Ironwood jumped in, "And I will be sending one of my own as well. If anything is found, it could be beneficial for all the kingdoms."

Clenching his fists, Naruto silently nodding his head before rising from his seat. Without a word more or a look back, the Uzumaki Jinchūriki took the elevator from Ozpin's office.

"Disrespectful, emotional, and far too volatile. On top of that, he lied straight to our faces! How could you simply let him go Ozpin? How could you possibly think it's a good idea to keep him around?" Ironwood questioned.

Still staring at the spot the aforementioned teen had sat, Ozpin waited a moment, composing his thoughts before turning to observe the city of Vale bathed in the beautiful hues of a setting sun. After a few minutes, the bespectacled headmaster answered, "That is all true and it is because of those same reasons that I 'keep him around'. Naruto Uzumaki is...different. He is like his namesake, a force of nature and an unyielding entity that leaves nothing as it was. He will bring change to these times and with those in the shadows moving more and more each day, he will be a key player in the coming days."

* * *

Deep in the Emerald Forest, the sounds of wood being snapped and broken echoed throughout the otherwise eerily silent forest.

With a snap of his arm, Naruto caused the trunk of yet another tree to explode in a shower of splinters and wood chips, taking out a huge chunk of the tree's body in the process. Looking around, one would find the other trees in the clearing in a similar state, barely standing with only a sliver of their trunk keeping them up.

Those younger and thinner trees were not so lucky, felled by a single enraged fist and now laid out on the floor of the forest.

The critters that roamed the forest and called it home were nowhere to be found, having vacated the area, staying as far away as possible with their instincts telling them that something dangerous had entered their home. Even the Grimm, creatures naturally drawn to feelings of negativity, felt it prudent to keep their distance, the feeling of something hanging thick in the air like a dense fog being enough to keep them wary.

With a roar of anger, another tree was snapped in half, falling to the ground with a loud thud that reverberated throughout the area.

"I'm surprised you haven't attracted a horde of Grimm to you yet," a smoky voice commented from the shadows.

Rising to his full height and brushing off the wood chips and splinters from his jacket, Naruto regained some sense of himself and replied, "They're scared. They can feel the chakra I'm using and they know I'm stronger than them."

Sauntering out of the shadows, Cinder admired the sight of a ragged Naruto. His hands still clenched into fists, his blond mane even more wild than was normal, and a hint of crimson bleeding into his sapphires gave him the appearance of a beast on the edge, only a step away from unleashing hell on those dumb enough to have incurred his wrath.

It was enticing to her.

"My, my, someone's cocky," the amber eyed woman commented.

Naruto huffed, "You and I both know what I can do and I'm sure Torchwick told you all about the incident on the dock."

Cinder only smirked, "Indeed. Taking down two fully armored Bullheads in a few seconds? And with arms made entirely out of chakra? You Jinchūriki truly are forces to be reckoned with."

A frown marred Naruto's whiskered cheeks, not liking the reference to the fact that he and his brothers and sisters had been born and made into weapons of war without their consent. Sure his mother and father had sealed Kurama into him in the hopes that he would use the power being a Bijū container granted him for good, but that wasn't how others viewed them.

Jinchūriki were not human, merely tools to be wielded by their Kage, a sword and shield against their enemies. Despite his close bond to Sarutobi-jiji, Naruto knew that, had an event arose in which he was needed, the Third would have been forced to use him as such.

"What do you want Cinder?" Naruto snarled, his already poor mood soured by those thoughts.

Knowing she would have to tread carefully lest she ignite the flames of the teen's fury and the Bijū he contained, the femme fatale frowned, "I heard that you and your tea, are being sent on a mission to find more artifacts from the time of your ancestors."

In a moment of clarity, Naruto remembered a rather important detail, _'I never told her that I'm actually from that time! She thinks that I'm just a descendant of the old shinobi or something.'_ Deciding that it was best the grand schemer continued to believe that to be the case, the former shinobi raised a brow, "And?"

"I also know that Ironwood is sending one of his lackeys to keep an eye on you," Cinder continued.

"So? It's not like whoever it is will cause any problems for me," Naruto confidently stated.

Sauntering closer, the raven haired beauty raked a nail across the former shinobi's cheek, tracing one of his whisker marks, "I can help. I could...pull some strings and send Neo or Emerald with you and have them keep whoever it is off your back and let you do some real exploring."

Despite the pleasurable shiver running down his spine, Naruto had been trained well enough to be a little wary of the woman despite knowing her ultimate goal, "And what would you want out of it?"

Smirking as she stared into the striking blue eyes of the taller teen, Cinder replied, "Nothing too outlandish, just the answers to some questions I've had concerning your ancestors."

Naruto may not have had the years of experience that his mentors had, or even the few years that Cinder had on him, but even he could tell that there was something off about the situation. Cinder was many things, and none of them entailed her being so simple. She had webs upon interlocking webs spun around her.

She may have told him more about her end goal than she had most anybody else, but there was no way she would want something as simple as a few questions answered. There had to be more to it.

"That's it? No favors? No asking me to steal some powerful tool or something?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Cinder only offered a smile, "No. Just some answers is all. So, do you accept?"

Still leery of the deal coming back to bite him in the ass, the blond Huntsman-In-Training frowned but nodded his head, "Fine, but I'd like Neo. She may creep me out, but that's better than Emerald's crappy attitude."

Cinder said nothing about the jab at one of her underlings, shrugging instead, "Neo will be happy to hear that. You two have been getting along well."

Recalling the rash of pranks the two had been pulling as of late, Naruto sheepishly began to chuckle, "Yeah, you could say that."

With a smirk, Cinder turned to leave, that ever present sway of her hips attracting even Naruto's gaze. Before she fully passed into the shadows of the darkened forest, the amber eyed woman turned her head, "Oh, by the way, that Faunus girl is looking for you."

Without a word more, Cinder was gone.

Scratching his head in puzzlement, Naruto questioned that last tidbit, "Blake's looking for me? How did Cinder know that?"

"Nothing is quite right about that woman," interrupted a familiar gruff voice.

Turning to regard his Bijū partner who was situated amidst the branches of a nearby tree, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I know. Here's just something...off about her."

Switching his crimson gaze from where Cinder had left, Kurama stared at his container, "And yet you still took that deal with her."

Clenching his fists, Naruto growled out, "I didn't have a choice. Wherever Ironwood found that headband has to have some clues about what happened to Konoha or where it could be now and I wouldn't be able to do anything with his lackey breathing down my neck."

"Need I remind you that you are capable of making corporeal copies of yourself that can freely interact with the world, and hundreds of them at that. Not only that, you have the ability to change your appearance at will," Kurama bit back.

"But what about trying to keep all this a secret?" Naruto challenged.

The Kyūbi scoffed, "Did you really think that would last long? I'm honestly surprised you've made it this far without shouting it to the heavens."

Naruto growled in response, "Oi! What's that supposed to mean you furry asshole!"

Kurama smirked, "Please, you were never good at keeping a low profile. You stuck out like a sore thumb in our time and you do even more now in this day and age."

"Hey! I'm damn good at being stealthy when I need to!" The blond Jinchūriki protested.

The Kitsune like chakra monster waved a paw dismissively, "I wasn't talking about that. Loathe as I am to admit it, stealth is probably one of your strongest points. However keeping your head down and not getting involved into every shit storm that comes your way is not your forte."

Naruto grumbled, "Not my fault trouble finds me."

Chuckling at the misfortune of his container, Kurama hopped down from his perch, "Besides, you've already used Sennin Mōdo in front of two professors, spammed Kage Bunshin in areas where Ozpin can see, used my chakra in public, you're selling Sealing Scrolls and Explosive Tags to the public, and still keep throwing jutsu out like they're going out of style. Face it, it's a little late to try and keep it all under wraps."

Throwing his hands behind his head, Naruto raised a brow, "So, what? Should I just tell Ozpin what he wants to know? Go around calling myself a Shinobi Huntsman?"

Kurama snorted, "Don't be an idiot. That woman has given you an even better lie than the one we had before. Use it to your advantage. After all, the ones who need to know, know already. Keep it like that."

Casually waltzing through the Emerald Forest, unafraid of the dangers that called it home, Naruto smiled, "What would I have done without you fuzz butt?"

"Probably still be running around wearing that kill-me-orange jumpsuit and using only two techniques over and over again," the Bijū snarked.

Naruto winced, "Was I really that bad?"

"Worse."

* * *

**AN:** Wanted to get this out before Volume 3 came back from its brief little break so I didn't try and do too much. There was a lot of setup for the next little arc that will hopefully span a few chapters and lengthen the kind of short run of Volume 2.

And yes I know, most of these last few chapters have been very filler/slice of life stuff, but gotta get that setup ready for the arcs and story. Rest assured, everything will be picking back up again.

The whole Painting the Town Red thing WILL happen as will the other big events of Volume 2, but I wanted to lengthen it out so it gives me more world to build and puts even more distance between this and the official release.

Speaking of the official release...Jesus. H. Christ. No. Fuck you RT. YOU CANT DO THAT TO YANG. AND WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THE WHOLE FAIRY TALE SHIT. WHAT IS THIS, HARRY POTTER!?

"Oh yeah, that old fairy tale that you were told as a kid? Yeah that shits real and we need your help."

ARGH.

Volume 3 has got me all fucked up. If anyone wants to discuss it and the many theories running around, feel free to pm me.

And yes, if you're ever wondering if I see the new episodes, I'm an RT sponsor so I see that shit as soon as it's released. I'm all kinds of giddy for the new episode this weekend.

What I'm wondering though is where the fuck is Adam? They made a whole deal at the end of Vol. 2 to show him and he and the White Fang have this whole thing in the Vol. 3 opening, so what's going on with that? Bah. So many things.

Hope you guys enjoyed your Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, whatever the fuck you celebrate. Happy (early) New Years and all that junk.

Jeez, can't believe I've been doing this for going on three years. Shits crazy.

Until next chapter,

PEACE

OUT.

WAIT. JUST SAW THE PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 7 LITERALLY RIGHT NOW. FLASHBACK EPISODE. OH FUCK. NO. NO. SHIT. SHIT ALL OVER MY DICK. DAMNIT RT. GOD DAMNIT.


	22. Chapter 22

Alright guys, I know it's been a long while since the last update, and for very good reason. Volume 3...god fucking damnit.

If you haven't watched the season finale for whatever reason, the fuck are you doing, go do that, and come back. Free 30 day RT sponsor, or do I what I do and shell out the meager $5 for a monthly sponsorship.

But if you've been keeping up with it, I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. With the season over and having ended the way it did, I as a fan am equal parts devastated and awed. I watched the finale with two friends who are also RT/RWBY fans and we lost our shit.

There were tears, spilled beer, and lots of screaming, almost like sex, except really fucking depressing...so more like sex.

At this point I'm dodging the issue and the reason I'm posting this. If you want to talk about the sheer amount of shit that went down in the last two episodes, my PM box is open.

Now I said those things as a fan. However even as I watched it, my inner writer was struggling to work it all out. Episode 11, some really fucked up stuff, but I could work with it. Chapter 12?

Guys, there is no other way to put this, but, I see no feasible way for me to continue this story, AS IT IS. I have done my best to blur canon and my own stuff together to do this, and most people seem super happy with the way it's gone thus far. However, with who Naruto is as a character, even tweaked as he is, there is no way Vol. 3 can end the way it did.

Naruto has always been about trying to save as many people as he can, fighting for what he believes in and coming out on top at the end of the day. It may be a super unconventional way such as befriending the enemy, or pulling some shit no one thought was possible, but he does it. Naruto defies the odds and he defies what others see as fate or destiny.

And that's nothing to say about his actual strength and power. As much as I dislike what the latter half of Naruto became (losing its ninja roots and becoming more akin to DBZ than anything else) I must concede that Naruto eventually becomes a near, if not, God tier being. Even at the stage of canon that I've plucked him from, post Pein battle, he is still powerful, more so than what's been shown this far in RWBY.

I know I get a lot of complaints that my view of power levels is skewed or what have you, but I'm sorry, the main characters are not my measuring bar. It's been said time and again that the main heroes and villains are not normal, even by shinobi standard. I said it in this story, and I'll say it again, Naruto is among a class of shinobi apart from the rest. Him, Hashirama, Madara, and even Sasuke are far beyond what even Kage level shinobi can do.

When I say that the Huntsmen of RWBY - that Qrow, Raven, Glynda, etc., can give a shinobi a run for their money - I'm not talking about shinobi like Gaara, Tsunade, Pein, or Itachi. I'm talking shinobi like Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Kiba, Gai, Shino, etc. the NORMAL for their rank shinobi.

Anyways, Naruto is like his namesake, a force of nature that can physically reshape the landscape as easily as he changes the people around him.

I've tried to make this as evident as possible in all of my stories. When you change something, even when it's just including a single extra character, nothing stays the same. This is my biggest gripe with some X-overs. You can not simply plop someone, anyone even an OC, into another universe, another wold and have everything stay the same. The minute you do that, logically speaking you create a cascading wave of changes.

By my changing team JNPR into team NNPR, I went about reshaping the entire dynamic of things. Team RWBY and team JNPR/NNPR had a closer friendship, Cinder was more active, characters have changed. Blake is far more along with coming to terms with her past and who she is. Weiss was changed into a friendly Tsundere much faster. Sun and Neptune play no huge role. Jaune went to Atlas and is under Ironwood. Nora and Ren have improved and grown stronger. The Shinobi world of Naruto was turned into the forgotten past of Remnant.

This, all because I swapped one blond for another, one far more versed in combat, one who has suffered a harsh upbringing, a ball of sunshine who is known for being able to reshape the landscape as well as bring out the best in those close to him.

In summation, my choices are thus.

Option A: Continue the story as is, Naruto continuing to create even more changes, eventually coming to a point that the end of Volume 3 happens in a drastically different way, marking an almost complete divergence from canon in a huge way.

Option B: Pull the most plot hole filled, shitty, bullshit riddled cop out and let the ending of Volume 3 happen as it is and possibly be able to pickup from there, depending on how Vol. 4 goes.

Option C: Kill the story, wait for RWBY to progress more, and come back with a completely rewritten and brand new story, POSSIBLY.

I can't decide what to do, but I will say, options B and C aren't exactly my favorites. However I've tried so hard to stay within the realms of reason and keep things as close to canon despite the changes and such that option A seems like it will be a total upheaval of what this story is, something I'm not sure I or others will like.

Faced with these choices, I leave it up to you, the people who have so fervently followed this story. As much as I retain control over what this story is as its creator, I feel as if I owe it to you all to decide the fate of this.

It's only been thanks to you guys, the people who have taken the time to not only read, but review this story that it's come this far. It's thanks to you guys that I've grown as a writer and improved so much.

As much time as I've spent writing this, you've all also spent reading it.

So the bottom line or TL,DR as youngsters say is, I don't know how to continue forward, thusly I'm leaving it up to you. I will post a poll on my profile, noting the options I've laid out as soon as this is up. If you wanna leave a review with your vote, that will be looked at but not hugely considered as its hard to keep track of. Have a better idea? Some ingenious way to fix all this? PM me or leave a review.

If option A wins, I will simply finish up the next chapter, which I'm 5000 words into. The poll itself will be up for an indeterminate amount of time, at least long enough that I feel a solid enough decision has been made, so probably around a week and a half or so. Maybe less.

Regardless of what happens, I'd like to thank you all for everything you've done this far. You've been such awesome people. There have been some...dickheads, but I'm pretty sure that's no more than a handful, if that, and they've all been drowned out by actual reviews that offer advice or well wishes.

Once again, thank you all, and I await your responses.

Peace out. 


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: **Holy crap you guys are a ravenous bunch. I knew from the numbers that this work of mine had quite the following, but it wasn't something I could exactly see. However these last few weeks have shown me exactly what kind of people you guys are and wow, I was shocked to say the least.

I expected some kind of response, but not the massive outpouring of support that I got. I don't think my PM inbox was ever so flooded in such a short span of time. That in mind, I'm so sorry I didn't respond to any of them! No that doesn't mean I ignored them, far from it. I read every single PM and review, but just couldn't get the time to respond what with trying to finish this, work, friends, and music.

Again, you're support is extremely appreciated!

Funny though, ALOT of you had an interesting idea to combine some of, if not all of the given options and even gave up some really interesting ideas of how to proceed forward.

What I got out of it was also a huge call for me to write another Naruto x RWBY crossover, most asking for it to be completely different from this one. However seeing as how I'm already doing that exact same thing with the whole Naruto and DxD thing, that is not an idea I think will happen any time soon at least.

But the votes have it, WE MOVE FORWARD!

I will continue on the path I had originally planned for Vol. 2, that being the inclusion of several other arcs like the current one, to flesh out this world I've made. If I play this right, this means that, HOPEFULLY, by the time I begin work on Vol. 3, RT will have also begun releasing Vol. 4.

Tied into that, I and some friends will be heading out to RTX this year and seeing as how they'll no doubt be giving a preview of the new Volume, I am much excited.

As for the plethora of ideas you all threw at me, I have to ask. Why the hell are none of you going through with some of these ideas? Seriously, some of them were genuinely good and definitely piqued my interest.

Anyways, I'll be thinking about some of them, especially with the introduction of Salem, someone every Naruto fan is wanting to connect to a certain white haired, horned, mother of all kekkai genkai.

In regards to the whole shit fuckery that was the ending of Volume 3, I still have no idea how I'm gonna do that, but I can say for sure it WONT be a play by play of canon. How much is changed, well I already have some ideas of my own, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

For now, enjoy the start of my new arc!

* * *

As the sun peeked over the horizon, beginning its daily trek across the sky and bathing the planet in its warmth and light, an anxious team NNPR performed one last supply check, wanting to make sure they were prepared for the extended mission that was now upon them.

Their last historical expedition out to Uzushio had been relatively short, their battle with the ancient Nevermore notwithstanding, due to the fact that they actually knew where they were going and what they were looking for, relatively. After all, it was rather hard to miss an entire island.

This time, they were heading almost blindly into a forest that remained near entirely uncharted and wild.

Atlas' general had even explained that his coming into possession of a Konoha hitae-ate was pure happenstance and that he himself had no idea if what they were looking for would be an entire village, or simply a few scattered artifacts that had been unearthed by the natural shifting of the planet and nature.

The whole mystery of the mission was only made worse by the fact that Ironwood's finding of the headband had happened almost twenty or so years ago, meaning that whatever could have been there was just as likely to have been moved again amidst the constant, unpredictable changes and shifting of nature.

In essence, they very well could be going on a wild goose chase that may well end up amounting to nothing. Then again, with Naruto involved, that wasn't likely to be the case.

"Are you ready?" Pyrrha asked aloud, meaning it in both the physical and emotional sense. After all, the sight of a ruined Uzushio had been enough to anger him to the point that he had tapped into Kurama's chakra, and that had been the home of his ancestor's, a place he was tied to only in blood.

It was impossible to predict how he would react if they happened upon the ruins of Konoha, the place where he had been born and grown up in. A home he had fervently aimed to one day lead. A village and people he had literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for. No matter what, Konoha had been his home, the place he would have given his life for. It was a place he had been forced to leave, against his will, while it was beset by a monster of a man after the Bijū sealed inside of him.

Needless to say, Pyrrha was right to worry about her whiskered friend.

"I...I don't know," Naruto admitted, his eyes dimming in just the slightest way. However for Pyrrha, who could by now read the blond like a book, it meant that he was quickly losing himself to the memories and guilt that still gnawed at him in the recesses of his mind.

While others knew the blond for his cheerful disposition, around his teammates and those he was truly close to, he was much more open about the turmoil and thoughts that would run through his mind, something that had only been the exclusive right of his jiji, baa-chan, Kaka-sensei, and ero-sennin, people whom he trusted above all others.

It was endearing to know that Naruto trusted Pyrrha and his teammates in much the same way as he had his pseudo-family.

Knowing this, Pyrrha gently placed a hand on his shoulder, pouring all of the conviction and genuine emotion she could into her words, "Whatever happens, I'm...we're here for you."

Ren decided to interject, "Pyrrha is right, we're a team. We'll do this as a team, like any of our missions."

Nora's bubbly face suddenly popped into view, her cheery grin on her face, "Right! We're team NNPR! Breaking legs and taking names is what we do!"

Grinning, the vibrancy of his eyes now back in full force, Naruto nodded, "You guys are right, nothing's gonna stop us, -ttebayo!"

With a confident stride, team NNPR turned and made to leave their room, ready to stand as a united front against whatever troubles they were going to meet in the coming days.

Stepping out into the hallway, the four teens were surprised to bump into the smiling and sleepy faces of a still pajama clad team RWBY.

"What are you guys doing up this early?" Naruto questioned.

"We came to wish you guys good luck on your mission, duh!" Ruby chirped, simultaneously rubbing her eyes in attempt to appear more awake.

With a grin, Yang gave a friendly punch to her fellow blond's arm, "You better not come back all banged up this time, or you'll have to answer to me! Got it Foxy?"

"No promises," Naruto answered back with his usual grin. Knowing his usual luck, he was right to make such a promise.

Rolling her eyes at the blond, Blake offered a simple smile, "Just come back in one piece, all of you."

"Yeah, don't be too much of a moron," Weiss flippantly added.

"I can feel the love from here, Princess," Naruto sweat dropped.

With a last few waves and hugs, team NNPR made their exit, walking out into the crisp morning air, greeted by more familiar faces.

"It is good to see you all up and ready for yet another historical adventure!" Professor Oobleck exclaimed.

Arms crossed, Olive regarded the four teens with a blank stare, "Hopefully this one won't involve fighting another Grimm older than Vale."

Naruto took the dig at his track record with missions in stride, "If it does, we'll take it down in record time, right?"

Ready to show what they were capable of as a team, the rest of team NNPR gave a confident round of nods.

"Yeah! We'll annihilate anyone who gets in our way, muahahaha!" Nora bellowed.

Adjusting his glasses, Oobleck replied, "Yes, well before we depart, we still have another person whom will be accompanying us as well."

Professor Panathenaia frowned in thought, "Right. General Ironwood has thought it...crucial that he send one of his own with us."

Curious as to why the brunette professor seemed to be none too thrilled by the idea of having someone from another Kingdom accompany them, Naruto decided to save such questions for later.

However, having met the man, Naruto had a few guesses as to why. The general just rubbed him the wrong way. He seemed to be one of those "anything and everything for the greater good" types, which wasn't necessarily bad. What was bad, were the lengths he would go to achieve those ends.

All in all, Ironwood just reminded Naruto of that old warhawk, Danzo, a little too much for comfort. Sure the old shinobi had wanted Konoha to be great, but the bastard had been willing to sacrifice any and everyone to achieve that, even willing to start another war with the other villages to prove that Konoha was the most powerful. That wasn't even mentioning the other deals and moves he had made in the shadows without the permission or knowledge of the Hokage, like the creation of his Ne _(Root)_ division of ANBU.

Having briefly shared a team with one of its members, Sai, Naruto could easily see why Sarutobi-Jiji had originally ordered it to be disbanded.

Intentionally robbing young children of any and all emotion bar an extreme loyalty to Danzo and the Leaf village through harsh brainwashing and conditioning to make the perfect "tools" was inhumane and went against what the previous Hokage had believed in.

_'The road to hell is paved with good intentions,' _Kurama intoned.

Naruto hummed in response, only sparing the Bijū currently wrapped around his neck a glance before his attention was drawn to the clacking sound of heels meeting concrete. Turning around, the blond raised a brow upon seeing Cinder waltzing towards them, Neo at her side.

"Ah, Ms. Fall. How can we help you?" Oobleck inquired.

Putting on a fake smile, one Naruto could see through by a mile, the amber eyed woman stretched out her hand, a simple piece of paper held out, "Professor Ozpin asked that I hand this to either of you."

Raising a brow, Olive grabbed the letter and read through it, "Hmm. Seems that our Headmaster has decided to send a member of team CMNE with us as well. Says she may be of some assistance to us on the mission."

Having already disregarded both Panathenaia and Oobleck, much to the former's ire, Cinder was busying herself by chatting it up with the whiskered captain of NNPR, "You'll take care of Neo, right Naruto?"

Regarding the diminutive girl currently giving him her signature "I'm equal amounts adorable and evil" smile, Naruto sweat dropped, "Uh, yeah...sure."

Pyrrha frowned as Cinder glanced at her, giving the redhead a smirk before the raven haired woman proceeded to stroke Naruto's whiskered cheek in a way that was clearly not meant to be platonic, "Come back safe, alright?"

Naruto, still as blind to anything remotely romantic or sexual, simply grinned, "Heh, like something's gonna stop me, -ttebayo!"

Off to the side Ren sighed, prompting Nora to question her long time friend, "What's wrong Ren?"

Shaking his head in exasperation, the long haired teen replied, "Naruto just jinxed us. Now we'll definitely run into some kind of trouble."

"Oh c'mon! We can totally beat anything that comes at us! Captain Whiskers is a super awesome ninja, Pyrrha is famous for being kick butt, you have your Kung Fu, and I have Magnhild. Plus we got two of our professors and the weird ice cream girl. We got this," Nora bragged.

"Uh, sorry if I'm late!" A voice called out, surprising everyone gathered.

Turning around, brows were raised when they saw that the voice belonged to a familiar, to team NNPR, face.

Making a poorly hid attempt to whisper, Nora added, "I don't know about the new guy though."

Ren sighed.

Scratching his cheek, Naruto peered at the newcomer, "Uhh...Joan right?"

The armor clad blond sweat dropped, "Um, no, it's Jaune actually."

Professor Panathenaia raised a brow, "You're the one General Ironwood is sending with us?"

Standing up straight, the teen gave a salute, "Jaune Arc of Atlas ma'am."

For a moment the brunette professor seemed to scrutinize the blond before shrugging, "Very well. Since we're all here, best we leave. Everyone prepared? We will be gone for quite the length of time and I hope you've all prepared for an extended stay outside the bounds of any major city."

When no one spoke up, the bespectacled professor turned on her heel and made for the waiting Bullhead, the others following suit, piling into the large aircraft.

However, seeing as how he was the only one carrying a large pack, Jaune asked the obvious, "Um, did you guys not bring any supplies?"

Naruto just grinned and pulled out a small scroll, spinning it on his fingertip, "Everything we need is right in here."

"Oh! Is that one of those scrolls that's supposed to be able to store a bunch of stuff?" Jaune asked curiously.

Nora chose that moment to pipe in, "Yup! And you're looking at the original maker of them, Captain Whiskers!"

Naruto could only chuckle lightly at the less than impressive nickname his teammate had given him, "Uzumaki Naruto, captain of Team NNPR."

Offering a friendly smile, Pyrrha introduced herself to the Atlesian, "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Lie Ren," the raven haired teen said evenly.

"And I'm Nora Valkyrie, queen of the castle!" The exuberant hammer wielder cheered.

Seeing as how Neo was not going to verbally introduce herself, Naruto spoke up, "And this is Neopolitan. Doesn't really talk much, but don't piss her off."

In turn the ice cream themed girl gave her signature smirk, complete with a blink to change the colors of each eye causing Jaune to feel all kinds of uncomfortable.

"Uh, nice to meet you all. Hopefully we can work well together!"

* * *

It had been a few hours since the group had departed from Beacon. It had also been some time since any sign of technology had been seen, the Bullhead having left the bounds of Vale's walls soon after its departure.

Having made a similarly long trip before, team NNPR had taken to their chosen way of passing the time.

Nora was snoozing away, using Ren who himself looked to be sleeping as a pillow. Pyrrha had made herself comfortable against the side of her friend and was actually reading a book she had asked to borrow from said blond, that being the _'Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'_. Naruto was likewise busy reading over a scroll of some sort, the contents of which only he, and possibly Olive, could decipher. Neo, while having initially used messing with Kurama as a means to stave off boredom, had since fallen asleep, using Naruto's lap as a pillow. Said Bijū was now curled around his container's neck, tail lazily swinging to and fro.

Jaune had at first used the time to polish his weapon of choice, a rather unassuming sword, but was now using the time to quietly observe each of the other teens across from him. He had seen the aftermath of what his fellow blond could do and had been told by Ironwood that he should pay extra attention to him, but for the life of him, the blond couldn't figure out why.

Sure he seemed strong, but no more so than any of his teammates. Though that was also not all that unremarkable when one considered that Pyrrha Nikos was on the same team.

That was also a little odd to him. While he himself didn't really care all that much that the redhead was quite famous for her achievements as a Huntress in training, he had seen a few of her battles and heard how intelligent she was. By all rights, she should be the one leading her team. And yet she was not.

What was so special about this Naruto that had caught the eye of not only Ozpin, but his own headmaster and general as well?

"Alright guys! Gonna be landing here! Prepare to depart!" The Bullhead captain called from the cockpit.

A few moments later and the group was stretching out their limbs, clearing themselves of any kinks that had developed during the course of their flight.

As they did so, the younger teens all surveyed the area around them, finding themselves standing on the outskirts of what looked to be a small village. A closer look showed that, while the forests claimed a vast majority of the area around the village, the buildings seemed a little more modern than those of the ones they had encountered back during their fiasco of a first mission.

Hopefully this also meant that the people would be different as well.

Spinning around, Professor Oobleck addressed the teens, "This will be our temporary home base for the duration of our mission. We will be taking up residence in a nearby lodge. Any questions? No? Then let us venture forth!"

And just like that the spastic green haired professor was gone.

Shaking her head at her colleague, Panathenaia motioned for the group to follow her to the village.

"You kids have fun! When you're all ready to go, I'll be right here!" The Bullhead captain called out.

Naruto nodded, "Thanks for the ride Nate!"

Walking into the village proper, the group was greeted by a waiting Oobleck, three others - two men and a woman - standing with him.

"Allow me to introduce the three of the resident Huntsmen who will be our guides during our stay in their village," the bespectacled teacher spoke.

"Name's Marcus Flint," the first man said simply.

Garbed in a simple grey long sleeve with what looked to be some sort of bow and arrow stitched in white on the bottom left, faded black pants, black boots, and fingerless gloves, he seemed rather plain. Though his pale complexion contrasted greatly with the shock of deep ebony locks that was tied into a simple ponytail. His honey brown eyes examined them with just the smallest hints of disinterest, like he'd rather be doing something else.

"Hey there! I'm Aria Canta," the young woman greeted cheerily.

She looked to be only a few years older than them and wore a simple white tank top with a dark purple jacket covering her arms and shoulders. Emblazoned on each of the jacket's shoulders was an elegant depiction of a conductor's baton colored in a contrasting white. A belt styled as a black bow tie wrapped around her waist and held up her black pants, though, seeing how well they formed to her curves, the belt was more for show than function. Her vibrant blue eyes stood out from her peached skin tone while her deep brown tresses framed her face in a hime style.

The eldest of the three, no doubt the leader of the group gave a firm nod in their direction, "And I'm Grey Ballast."

Standing a full head taller than his comrades, the now introduced Grey cut an imposing figure with eyes of a hardened charcoal grey and matching short, cropped hair. A dark, forest green overcoat fell to just above his calves, the sleeves of which were rolled halfway up his forearms. A black shirt covered his chest, the image of two poles forming an "X" in the same shade of green as his coat covering his upper chest. Dark brown pants covered the upper portion of the steel toed black boots he wore, tying his outfit together.

The older male scanned the teens and continued in his gruff voice, "While you're here, we'd much appreciate the help defending the village. Grimm aren't a huge problem, but the occasional roaming herd can be troublesome to deal with. In exchange, we'll be letting you use our maps and knowledge of the surrounding area to help you find whatever it is you're looking for."

"Or I could just flood the area with a bunch of clones," Naruto muttered to himself.

Having heard him, Pyrrha smiled and shook her head in amusement. Having first hand experience at how helpful the blond's clones could be, she did have to wonder why he didn't do just that. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jaune shift, reminding her of his presence, serving to also answer her question. Naruto was no doubt trying to keep Ironwood from finding out about his abilities and ties to the Shinobi era.

While never having met the man herself, she could say she wasn't exactly fond of him. She and the others had seen how Naruto had looked after the meeting with the Atlesian General and their own Headmaster. It had been abundantly clear from his bedraggled appearance that her partner had gone out to release some steam.

Getting the abridged version of the talk, she couldn't blame Naruto either. What right did Ironwood have to question the whiskered teen? Had it been Ozpin she would've understood, after all, they were technically speaking his soldiers. However Ironwood could make no such claim. While he was indeed a highly influential man, he was not in his home territory. No, he was in Beacon, a guest in the Kingdom of Vale.

He had no right to attempt to interrogate Naruto especially in the way he had tried to do so.

Shaking off those thoughts, Pyrrha smiled when she saw Naruto turn to her with a grin. The brightness of the smile served to remind her that, while the city life wasn't a bother to the blond, he was still far more accustomed to being in places where nature and greenery were much more prevalent. After all, he had grown up in a village not unlike this one, a place surrounded by trees and the wildlife.

"You really enjoy places like this, don't you?" Pyrrha asked, though she already knew the answer.

Plastering on a smile that split his face, Naruto nodded, "You bet! Nothing beats being close to nature like this!"

"Good, because we will be spending extended lengths of time even deeper in possibly uncharted territory," Professor Panathenaia interjected. Gesturing to her side, the brunette woman continued, "Now if you'd please follow Ms. Canta, she'll show you where we'll be staying while in the village."

Turning to see Nora animatedly chatting with the young Huntress, the two chuckled, "Seems as though Nora's already made a friend."

Nodding as they moved to join the others, Naruto caught sight of Ren sighing, "Looks like Ren isn't too thrilled though."

Ren in turn saw the two chuckling at his misfortune as Nora and Aria started a heated debate on sweets and could only come up with one way to sum up the situation,_'Troublesome.'_

* * *

"So this was the spot Ironwood found the headband?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

Looking at the area around them, no one could blame the blond for his incredulity. There was nothing remarkable about where they were currently standing. Sure it was a rather spacious clearing with a few fallen trees lying about, but they had encountered several others like it on the way.

Even when Naruto and Kurama scanned the area with their extra senses, they could find nothing that stood out. It was simply another clearing.

"Yes, it seems that there is nothing out of the ordinary here," Oobleck said, stating the obvious.

Shaking her head, Olive spoke up, "We knew that would more than likely be the case. For now we'll set up a temporary camp here, pair up, and spread out. We should still be in range for radio signal, so if any of you find anything of note, alert the rest of us."

Opening up a single scroll, Naruto summoned out several already made tents. Seeing how quickly and easy his fellow blond had made it seem, Jaune had to wonder how the thing worked. From what he could understand, the basis of the whole item revolved around the archaic drawings on it. However said drawings were like nothing any of Atlas' best had seen, the closest comparison being the Glyphs of the Schnee family. However Naruto looked and acted nothing like any Schnee he had met.

Another thing to add to the mystery of Naruto.

Looking around himself, Jaune could see that the rest of the group had already paired up, assuming what was probably their usual formations. Naruto with Pyrrha, Ren handling Nora, and the two professors together. Once that clicked in his mind, Jaune remembered who the last member of their group was, almost having forgotten about her.

Turning he could only smile unsurely, "Well, guess it's me and you Neo." The parasol wielder only responded with one of her signature smiles, only serving to unnerve the Atlesian even more, "Heh, right. Not much of a talker, huh?"

Neo simply blinked, her eyes changing color.

_'Why me?'_

* * *

"I feel kind of bad that we left Jaune to Neo like that," Pyrrha casually commented, brushing a strand of hair from her vision. While she didn't mind the forestry, the crimson haired teen was not exactly a fan of the humidity that permeated the air due to the density of the foliage.

Naruto, having sealed away his jacket in a bid to keep cool, shrugged, "It was kind of the whole reason Neo even came in the first place."

Pyrrha had to raise a brow at that, "What do you mean? I thought she was here to lend another hand?"

Grimacing as he realized that he had never let his teammates in on his little deal with Cinder, Naruto elaborated, "Well, like I said she kind of is here to help. It's just that her way of helping is to keep that guy distracted."

"I know that you don't want to reveal anything to Ironwood and I know that Jaune was sent with us to keep an eye on you, but I don't think Ozpin would send someone to run interference for you," Pyrrha stated, confident in her assumptions.

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto admitted, "You're right. Ozpin didn't do it. Cinder did."

Baffled by the answer, the Invincible Girl stopped dead in her tracks, regarding her teammate with a curious gaze, "What do you mean 'Cinder did'? How could Cinder send one of her teammates with us without Ozpin's permission?"

The whiskered captain answered honestly, "I actually don't know. She said she could pull some strings and make it happen."

Pyrrha frowned at the carelessness of her partner, "I'm sorry Naruto, but something is really off about Cinder and I don't like it."

"I know, and trust me, I don't like it either, but it wasn't something I could just pass up," Naruto admitted.

Deciding to drop the matter for now, the two turned to survey the area they were in, having stopped paying attention at some point during their talk. Only seeing more green in every direction, the pair sighed, Pyrrha hopefully adding, "Maybe the others are having better luck than us?"

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Do you have any snacks?"

"No, we left most of it back at the clearing."

"Are we there yet?"

"No, we're not Nora."

"Wanna play a game, Ren?"

"No, because we have to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

"...you think Pyrrha and Captain Whiskers have kissed yet?"

_'Troublesome...'_

* * *

"So where are you from?"

...

"Huh, cool. Is it anything like this?"

...

"Yeah, Atlas is a little different from Vale, but I like it."

...

"Well I'm super grateful for General Ironwood, after all, he's the one who's helped me get this far. I don't know what would've happened if I'd tried to get into somewhere like Beacon."

...

"...you're not even listening to me are you?"

...

"...so...is that your natural hair color or...?"

* * *

"Do you think it was a good idea to send the students off in pairs like that?" Oobleck asked, somewhat casually.

Stepping over a fallen branch, Panathenaia shrugged, "They handled an ancient Grimm that could create tornadoes and was as big as one of Ironwood's warships, I think they'll be fine."

"...you're hoping that Uzumaki's uncanny ability to cause things that would normally never happen will lead us to what we're looking for much faster, aren't you?" Oobleck surmised.

Seemingly unashamed at her tactic, his younger brunette coworker continued to move forward, only sparing a barely heard, "Possibly," as a response.

Oobleck simply shrugged before following after his colleague.

* * *

"Do you think we'll find Konoha out here?" Pyrrha asked, moving aside a tangle of low hanging vines.

Naruto answered honestly, "I wouldn't doubt it. After I had found that first Akatsuki ring, I would send out clones with Kurama to scour the nearby areas, remember? They never went this far outside of Vale's bounds, but they did find a few things left over from the smaller villages that weren't too far from Konoha."

"Did you ever wonder if Yang was right?" Pyrrha asked suddenly.

Raising a brow, Naruto asked the obvious, "Whaddya mean?"

"Well, Yang made that joke about Vale itself being where Konoha was. Couldn't it be possible?" The Huntress to be elaborated.

Turning his attention back to their surroundings, Naruto shook his head, "No. Me and Kurama originally thought that could be the case, but Vale is missing a few things that would make it obvious that it was Konoha, even a future version of it."

Curious, Pyrrha questioned her partner, "What do you mean? You've mentioned the monument and such, but I don't think those would survive what happened to your village and all these years."

Ducking under a branch, Naruto shrugged, "Well for one, it just doesn't feel like Konoha." Not even needing to turn to see that Pyrrha had raised a brow, the whiskered blond continued, "Remember I said that it was the Shodaime Hokage _(First/Founding Fire Shadow) _that built the village? Well, I wasn't joking. The Shodaime had this cool ability called Mokuton, or Wood Release. He could pretty much grow any kind of plant on command with just his chakra."

Kurama, having been around long before that time, chimed in, "Yes, if I can recall correctly, the area where Konoha came to be was originally a simple field of grass, but Hashirama used his ability to create plant life to make the area flourish, creating a forest as dense as this one in the matter of a few hours. He then went on to build much of the village itself with the same method. He alone is the reason Konoha became the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Pyrrha was stunned beyond words. Sure she had seen first hand the power Naruto was capable of, but for a single man to literally create a forest and a village with his own energy was astounding and almost unbelievable. The man sounded a lot less like a shinobi and more like a wizard of some sort. It was something straight out of a fairy tale.

"I remember hearing Jiji say that he was also the first Kami no Shinobi," Naruto remarked, more to himself as he recalled the talk the Sandaime had given him on Konoha's leaders.

Kurama grunted, "Yes, he was. There are not many humans who have earned my respect, but he was one of the few. Having personally done battle with him, Hashirama was truly beyond what you ningen are usually capable of, easily on par with some of us Bijū."

Again Pyrrha was shocked. While she couldn't say she knew Kurama nearly as well as Naruto did, she knew enough to know that the foxy Bijū was not exactly fond of most humans, so, to hear him admit that he actually respected this man said something about this Hashirama. To have earned the respect of the most powerful of nine monstrously powerful forces of nature was no mean feat.

"Well, anyways, because it was the Shodaime who pretty much created Konoha and brought life to the area, the trees and life around Konoha are different than anywhere else. In a weird way, it was almost like the village was alive," Naruto finished.

Kurama again interrupted, "While that is true, you must also remember, Konoha had been beset many times and nearly destroyed since its birth. In fact, that ningen with the Sage's eyes succeeded, and left Konoha as nothing but a crater."

Clenching his fists at the memory of that day, Naruto nodded.

Turning his gaze to his container, the Kyūbi continued, "And if my memory serves me well, you also destroyed miles of the surrounding area in your battle with him."

For once, Pyrrha was truly feeling left out of the loop, something she hadn't felt since Naruto had come clean about how he had come to Remnant and what he was. Even then, she wasn't completely in the dark, and had been one of the few to really know about his past. Now, she was rather confident that despite his talks with the raven haired Faunus of team RWBY, she knew more about her partner than anyone else, bar Kurama.

Now, however, that fact was being highlighted even more. Kurama had been with Naruto literally since birth and, from their talk, there was still more she had to learn about her blond crush.

Frowning, Naruto asked, "What's your point fuzz-butt?"

"My point is, the village Hashirama built was destroyed. You ningen rebuilt Konoha, but it was not built in the same way. That feeling of Hashirama's unique chakra is more than likely long gone. Considering that bastard Uchiha had already managed to destroy most of the village before your sensei sent us here as well, she is more than likely correct. It will no doubt be difficult, if not near impossible, to 'feel out' Konoha by now," Kurama gravely explained.

While he held no love or care for the village, the Bijū understood that finding it was crucial for he and his container to move forward. Finding Konoha meant they could figure out what had happened after they had been sent into the future, and more than likely find a few noteworthy items such as the Fūin no Sho, which would be immensely helpful in helping the half blood Uzumaki grow even stronger, something which he felt would be necessary in the near future.

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna give up. I've done the impossible before, I'll just do it again," Naruto stated confidently and simply.

Kurama just grinned, already having known that was exactly what his container would say. After all, that same stubborn perseverance was one of the reasons he had grown to respect the idiot blond.

"And I'll be here to help any way I can," Pyrrha added, giving her partner a warm smile.

Naruto grinned, "Thanks, you're the best Pyrrha-chan."

"Unless either of you is actually going to make a move, we should actually keep looking for Konoha," Kurama interrupted, pointing out that they had stopped moving some time ago and had been standing in the same spot for a few minutes.

Blushing at the implication of what the Kyūbi had said, Pyrrha looked away.

Naruto, being as dense as a rock when it came to romance, merely looked at the Bijū confusedly, "Huh?"

"Kami, you're still as dense as ever."

"Hey!"

* * *

"So none of us managed to find anything of note?" Professor Panathenaia asked.

Taking up various spots around the clearing they had set up camp in, the group shook their heads in the negative.

"Ren and I did find a really cute pet rabbit though!" Nora exclaimed, holding up a deeply confused brown ball of fluff.

Olive rubbed the bridge of her nose while Jaune and Neo sweat dropped while Nora's teammates, already used to her antics, only gave out a few chuckles.

"Can we keep him, pleeeeeeaaaaassssseeeee?"

Deciding to spare Ren from being the voice of reason, as per his usual, Naruto replied, "As much as I don't mind, it might not be such a great idea Nora."

Pouting childishly, the exuberant teen questioned her captain, "Why not!? I promise I'll feed him and take care of him!"

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto explained, "Well, it's not that. It's just I don't know how long the little guy will last around Kurama."

Glancing at said kitsune, Nora gasped when she saw the hungry look in the Bijū's eyes. The toothy grin revealing his razor sharp fangs did not help any.

Seeing the fox lick its lips, the brown furred bunny decided it would be in its best interest to get as far away as was possible, escaping Nora's clutches and bounding away back into the forest as if the devil was on its tail.

"Bunny no!" Nora cried out.

Naruto merely patted her on the shoulder, "It's the circle of life Nora. Fox has got to eat after all."

As if to emphasize that point, Kurama came padding back into the clearing, a satisfied look plastered on his snout, surprising everyone as none of them had even seen him leave in the first place.

"...yes, well, tomorrow we'll spend the first part of the morning searching once again. At around noon we'll be heading back into the village to gather supplies. Understood?" Olive announced, trying to regain control of the situation.

The teens all made some sign of acknowledgement, now far more interested in the camp fire seeing as how Naruto was using it cook. Seeing as how they had spent the better part of eight hours wandering aimlessly through the forest and only had a few snacks, the thought of an actual meal was all too enticing.

After a modest, yet filling, meal of rice and deer meat, something Naruto had caught and killed during his and Pyrrha's searching, the group of teens all took to their tents, ready to rest up.

All except Naruto. While he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy sleep, his boundless stamina and massive chakra reserves could keep him going for two or three days without rest if need be. Knowing that, the whiskered teen was not at all worried about not sleeping, especially with something far more important requiring his attention.

"You can feel it too, can't you?" Kurama stated rhetorically, already knowing the answer.

With a thoughtful frown on his face, Naruto nodded, "Yeah. There's a huge concentration of chakra somewhere nearby, but it feels...different."

Staring in the same direction as his container, the moonlight reflecting off of his crimson orbs, the Kyūbi answered, "That's because it's been moulded, changed into one of the elements."

Not tearing his gaze away from the moonlit horizon, the blond shinobi questioned the chakra monster, "But I thought that could only happen with nature transformation?"

Kurama grunted, "You are correct, so that means that either it has become a natural occurring phenomenon, leftover chakra collecting in places and being affected by the environment around it, like a coal being turned into a diamond under the right amount of pressure, or something created it and is leaving pockets around for some reason."

"So that's what Dust is, isn't it? Nature transformed chakra, just crystallized. That's why that fire Dust Pyrrha gave me was so easily able to blend with my Rasenshuriken, huh?" Naruto added, finally confirming what he and Kurama had theorized about the mysterious energy.

"Correct. The reason the people today are so easily able to use it, is because it is them reaching back to our days, the connection of Aura and the already nature transformed chakra reconnecting and resulting in what is a rudimentary form of elemental jutsu. However, like we've said, these people themselves no longer have chakra in the same way shinobi did. So that begs the question, why is there such an abundance of leftover chakra, so much so that these ningen have been able to base an entire way of life on using it as an energy source," Kurama wondered aloud.

"Looks like we're gonna need some of Neo's help after all," Naruto stated.

Kurama frowned, "Yes, while I still don't think it was the smartest idea to owe someone like Cinder a favor, it's too late to go back so we may as well make use of her."

For a moment, neither spoke, content to simply let their thoughts flow. While he was just as curious and worried about whatever the mass of chakra was, Naruto had to think about how much his relationship with Kurama had changed in the last year or so that they'd been in Remnant.

While they could easily jump at each other's throats and were more than happy to get a little violent with the other, underlying it all was a sense of camaraderie and respect, a stark contrast to what had once been a mutual hatred. One angry at being imprisoned against his will, again, his freedom stripped from him through circumstances far outside his control, and the other blaming the "monster" within for the harsh life he had been thrust into due to being forced to be a jailer long before he could even so much as sit upright.

It had been a mess of pointing fingers and misplaced anger and, amidst the chaos of life or death situations and a mad man with plans for world domination, it was not the most functional or healthy of relationships.

But even still, Naruto could at least say that the Bijū had been the only constant in an ever changing life, something he had come to appreciate only recently.

When he had been left to starve, it was Kurama's chakra that had kept him going. When he was hurt beyond the capabilities of even his own Uzumaki healing, it was the kitsune's chakra that had healed him, and when he was facing down opponents far more skilled and experienced than he, it was that same chakra that gave him enough power to triumph against the odds time and again.

Albeit, that was all done against Kurama's better wishes, but it was still appreciated.

"Do you think us being sent here to Remnant was a good thing?" Naruto finally asked, breaking the silence.

Raising a non-existent brow at the seemingly random question, Kurama paused a moment to gather his thoughts before responding, "It is hard to say. With anyone else, I would've said that your capture by that masked Uchiha would've been the end of it all, but you have the uncanny ability to turn even the most unfavorable of situations to your advantage." Letting that sink in, the chakra beast continued, "However, it has so far not at all a bad thing that we are here. Thanks to this change you've managed to grow as a person and warrior far more than you ever have - or possible would've - during our time. Not only that, but the people you've met and bonded with share a far more intimate relationship than most any you previously had. These ningen trust you. They genuinely care for you. They don't fear you or me, nor do they see you as a possible flight risk. More than anything, they depend on you. They have changed you and vice versa."

While the Bijū and he now had a much different relationship, Naruto was still shocked to hear the blunt honesty with which the kitsune spoke.

"But as much as things have changed, they've also stayed the same. For example, you're still a stubborn moron," Kurama mocked.

Shaking his head, Naruto simply gazed at the moonlit forest, a deep green maze that could possibly hold the answers to the what ifs that ate away at him. An uncharted, wild, and dangerous place, having safeguarded its secrets for possibly thousands of years. More so than anything, what struck Naruto was that it felt so much like home, and yet did not deliver that same warmth in him that Konoha did.

Whatever was to come from this mission though would no doubt herald some interesting revelations, that much the leader of team NNPR was sure of.

As if to answer him, the forest seemed to breathe, exhaling a soft breeze that rustled the leaves, carrying with it a light whisper that beckoned him like a parent calling to a child.

Something was definitely waiting to be found.

* * *

**AN: **Did I do I good? Haha.

Seeing as the first AN was a lengthy sort of tell all, I'll use this opportunity to talk about some other shit.

My new DxD crossover. A new chapter is in the works and is a thousand or so words in. It will be coming, hopefully within the next week.

I recently watched the amazingness that was A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist and oh my god I loved it. Everything about it was fan-fucking-tastic. Thanks to Anna, my interest in yandere's has been rekindled and I am once again working on my "Hinata as a Yandere" story.

Bought a new guitar. Posted a cover of Alter Bridge's Metalingus over on my youtube channel. Check it out if you like.

I also bought a fancy new midi keyboard which means I can actually work on some original music ideas as well as better quality covers. Look forward to that being a thing hopefully soon.

Separate questions. If I started a podcast that involved anime, games, music, and the stupid shit me and my friends do and talk about, would that be interesting to any of you? I know, nothing necessarily new in the world, but I do have the equipment for it. Who knows, maybe a "watches such and such anime" in the same vein as the Fine Bros react, just more nerd oriented, and more vulgar seeing as how me and my friends are not PG safe.

Also huge question. I've heard and even seen some people on here using as a thing. Now I'm not so arrogant as to say that my stories are entirely my own and therefore deserving of a monetary payout for me. I depend HEAVILY on previously tread ground. But still, after seeing how into this thing you all are, would any of you actually support this, me, in such a way?

I'm not gonna quit writing if it's a big fat no, but it'd be kinda cool to have and do. Eventually I hope to have one for my music, and who knows, that could become tied to this writing thing.

All in all, music, new stories, new ideas, and even something that if I get picked for will be hugely awesome. Getting my shit together yo.

Thank you again guys for the AMAZING support you've all given me thus far. I hope that as I keep going, I manage to keep that interest. If I fuck up horrendously along the way, let me know.

PEACE

OUT


	24. Chapter 24

**AN:** It's almost here guys. We are a micro-penis away from that next big benchmark of 2k. I. Am. Pumped.

I swear if you y'all hold out on me at like 1999...I'll be highly irritated.

But my vulgar sense of humor aside, it's hard to believe what this has turned into. A year ago, 1k was like "oh holy shit whhhhhaaaatt" and now we've closed in on on that 2k? It's unreal. Then there also the mass amount of follows and favorites.

It is astounding to think that people from all over the fucking globe are reading this and a significant amount of you are interested enough to actually support it in this way. It's mind boggling. It's something that raw numbers fails to really put into perspective.

I say this every damn time, but it will probably never lose meaning: THANK YOU ALL. It was great to see a few of the last reviews that trickled in thank me, but honestly, I really couldn't have done it without the genuine critiques and support people I've never even met have given me.

Now, I will apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Between juggling this story, the two others I'm workin on, trying to do music, work, and my social life, I was and still am running myself pretty hard. But, that's what passion is, right?

Now onto something I haven't done in a minute,

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**Q:** Why does Naruto rampage when he uses Kurama's chakra?/When is he gonna go full merge?/YOURE WRONG, THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS

**A:** it never ceases to amaze me how easily people seem to ignore the seemingly obvious. I've said it time and again, Naruto left his world far before any of that was even a thing. I went into detail and explained the reason for the angry cloak and why it's still a thing back in like chapter 15. Really how hard is it to actually read something before you review?

**Q:** why is Naruto working with Cinder?

**A:** Here's the deal, despite the way Vol. 3 ended, I am still a firm believer that Cinder is something of an anti-hero. It was made abundantly clear that the Kingdoms are up to some shady shit behind the scenes, keeping the general populace oblivious. There's also the fact that non-Hunstman, the regular civilians of Remnant, seem completely ignorant to Grimm and all that goes on outside the safe bounds of their cities.

For all the questions that have been answered, so many more have been raised while others still go unanswered. We've got a ways to go before a solid Good vs Evil is established.

In this way, Naruto and we as viewers are the same, clueless and trying to sus out what in the world is going on.

In short, Naruto is NOT working with Cinder...per se. As of this arc though, deals have been made and Naruto is nothing if not a man of his word.

**Q/C/C:** Salem.

**A:** ...oh boy. So here's the deal: with how I've done this, I really have no choice but to connect Salem to Kaguya. It is so blatantly obvious I'd have to pull some serious BS to not have the two be connected in some manner. However, the nature of that connection, be it reincarnation, fusion, the result of a seal, or the other ideas you've all tossed at me remains to be seen.

Really, Salem, having been the one who narrates the opening of the series as well as the World of Remnant shorts (something which now plays a much bigger part because of that) is going to be a huge thing to tackle. Her resemblance to not just Kaguya, but the Grimm as well, as well as her apparent desire to kill off the human race PLUS the Four Maidens thing AND this whole "Silver Eyed Super Huntsman, Killer of Grimm, Magical Badass" thing going on with Ruby and...well it just works. It's literally like I'm just gonna be taking puzzle pieces and placing them where they belong.

Enough of my ramblings. Let's get this shit rolling!

* * *

"Rasengan!"

A cry of agony echoed through the forest as a Grimm fell victim to the drilling nature of the Namikaze signature jutsu.

Nearby Pyrrha cleanly cut through the jugular of another Grimm. Likewise, Ren used the bladed portions of Storm Flower to dispatch of one of the creatures. Nora was just as easily able to use Magnhild to crush the skull of a hapless two legged Grimm.

Neo, revealing the blade she kept hidden in her parasol, pierced through the skull of her opponent with a bland, bored look on her face.

Jaune showed his own battle prowess, using his sword to lop off the head of a Grimm.

Observing the teens, Grey nodded his head in approval, "They work quickly and efficiently. Good to see that Beacon is still turning out exceptional fighters and defenders."

Panathenaia shook her head, "While that is true, this group is far above the average cut."

"Yes! The feats they are capable of individually are only eclipsed by what they can do as a team," Ozpin exclaimed.

Olive continued, "Neopolitian came as a late entry to our school alongside her teammates of team CMNE, however she and Uzumaki get along rather well which is possibly why she was added to our mission. Arc is a student of Atlas."

Frowning, Grey asked, "Atlas? I know the Vytal Festival is coming, but for them to be here this early? And for one of them to be put on a mission with one of our's? Doesn't sit right with me."

Olive could only offer a shrug, "Mistral and Vacuo have already sent some of their students as well, however, I agree. Ozpin trusts Ironwood far too much."

Raising a brow, the older Huntsman asked, "Wait, Ironwood? That's even more worrisome."

"Unfortunately we could not oppose the order and I have a feeling Ironwood is simply trying to figure out something the rest of us have been," Professor Panathenaia replied.

"And what exactly has the prestigious professors of Beacon so stumped?" Grey asked, crossing his arms.

Ignoring the sarcastic tone, the bespectacled professor answered, "Uzumaki. None of us know where he is from, where he was trained, or what his Semblance is. He is powerful, far too much for someone so young. He fluently speaks a dead language from the time before recorded history. He is an unknown and we all want answers so that we may know where his loyalties lie."

Shaking his head, Grey let out a chuckle, "You haven't changed a bit Olive."

Eyebrow twitching in irritation, the brunette Huntress asked, "And what's that supposed to mean Grey?"

Turning his gaze back to the group of teens as they cleaned up the remaining few Grimm with casual ease, the veteran Huntsman replied, "You were always over analyzing everything, overlooking the most obvious things that a blind man could see. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin hasn't already noticed and is simply letting this all play out." Out of the corner of his eyes, Grey grinned as he caught the normally composed Professor slowly growing more and more irritated, "It's plain as day where the kid's loyalty lies. Look at him, and I mean really look at him."

Huffing, Olive complied. Looking at the whiskered teen as he interacted with the others, the brunette let out a sigh of aggravation after a few short minutes, "What in the world are you getting at you old fool?"

Brushing off the insult, Grey stated simply, "The way he smiles and laughs, it's genuine. Look at his eyes and the way they shine. It's as clear as day that the kid truly cares for his teammates. You wanna know where his loyalties lie? They lie with those three kids right there. It's beyond obvious that he will go above and beyond for them. It's something I saw within minutes of meeting him. It's no doubt something Ozpin sees as well."

Recalling what she had seen back during their expedition to Uzushio, Olive was hard pressed to argue. The teen had thrown himself headfirst into danger and risked bodily harm in an effort to protect them. What's more, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren had done the same for him. Even after been heavily wounded by the monstrous Nevermore, the three had still pushed themselves to save their friend and captain from what could have been a perilous fall.

Then there was team RWBY. It was clear as day to anyone who spent any sort of time with the teens that Naruto cared for them in the same way he cared for his own team and it was reciprocated. The girls of team RWBY cared for the whiskered blond in just the same way.

If rumor was to be believed, the blue eyed teen was also friends with the members of team CFVY as well.

How had she so blindly ignored all of that? How had any of them?

* * *

"Well that was pretty easy," Nora complained.

Pyrrha replied, "Well it does seem like the people of the village tend to keep to themselves and don't go out of their way to provoke the Grimm so it'd make sense that the Grimm return the favor possibly."

Naruto hummed in thought, _'Pyrrha-chan is right. The Grimm really don't seem as violent towards the village.'_

_'Seeing as how Grimm are constructs of Nature, it only makes sense,'_ Kurama intoned. _'The village and its residents don't take from nature what they don't need and seem to have reached a level of coexistence that affords them a sort of free pass towards the Grimm.'_

Nodding his head, Naruto could see what his Bijū was saying. If they were correct in believing that the Grimm had been created with the intention to "purify" the earth of evil, that being the humans and their destructive ways, then it only made sense that villages such as this that had reached a sort of harmony with nature would not register as a threat to most Grimm.

"Whiiiiissskkkkeeers! Captain Whiskers!"

Shaking himself from his reverie, Naruto was only slightly surprised to find Nora waving a hand in front of his face. Knowing that he tended to block out the outside world when he was conversing with Kurama, the blond chuckled, "Oops. Guess I kinda got lost in thought for a bit, sorry."

Knowing the clear signs of when her friend was having a chat with his chakra beast partner, Pyrrha became curious and waited for the others to begin walking away, settling herself into a casual stride beside the whiskered captain, "What were you and Kurama talking about?"

Seeing as how it wasn't anything that needed to be hush hush, Naruto flung his arms behind his head and shrugged, "Eh, just talking about how you're probably right about why the Grimm aren't as violent around here."

Somewhat surprised, Pyrrha asked, "I was? I was honestly just throwing it out there as a possibility."

"Well, it actually makes sense if what me and Kurama know about Grimm is true," Naruto casually answered.

While the topic of Grimm wasn't exactly her favorite subject, it'd be a bit of an understatement if she said that she, like many others, wasn't curious to know what made the ferocious creatures tick. After all, humans and Grimm had pretty much been at war for an innumerable amount of years. Thinking about it, that brought up a good question, "You never had Grimm during your time, did you?"

Shaking his head, Naruto frowned, "No. They were...I guess born, sometime after I was sent here."

"Do you know what created them?"

Sighing, Naruto admitted, "Nope. The only thing we managed to figure out is that they're actually made up of pure Nature Chakra."

"You mean the energy you use to go into your Sage Mode? How is that possible?" Pyrrha questioned, now highly interested in the mystery of Grimm.

Naruto shrugged, "Not a clue."

Pyrrha smiled and laughed. Leave it to her captain to somehow answer one of Remnant's greatest mysteries, but have no way to back it up.

Though that wasn't very true either. Naruto could very well back it up by explaining how his own skill of using the energy of Nature itself gifted him with the ability to sense it out wherever it may be. Of course that meant coming clean about what he was, something she knew he wasn't too keen on.

Oh well. Pyrrha was more than content with how things were now. The people who knew were those who could be trusted with such knowledge, small as that circle maybe, it was still a group of people Pyrrha was happy to say genuinely cared for the whiskered teen. To most that may seem as nothing of note, but she knew that to Naruto, it meant the world.

Shaking off those more serious thoughts, the redhead turned and smiled at the curious gaze of said blond, shaking her head to answer the unasked question, "It's nothing."

Grinning in return, Naruto lowered his voice so that only she could hear him, "Well we should hurry up and get back to the village, I got something to tell you guys."

Now that piqued Pyrrha's curiosity. They had spent the last four days aimlessly wandering the forests around the village and had as of yet to discover anything of interest outside of a few wandering Grimm.

If Naruto had found something, this could be the turning point in actually getting them somewhere. But the question remained, why did he want to wait to tell them?

* * *

"So what's up Captain Whiskers and how come it's just us?" Nora asked curiously.

And rightly so. Naruto had made it a point to get the members of team NNPR alone, leaving the others of the mission group to their own devices. It was something the other three members of the team were curious to know.

Kurama was the one to answer, speaking aloud since he didn't need to pretend to be a simple fox around them, "A few nights ago, myself and the gaki here discovered something. We had felt it almost since arriving here, but it was hard to figure out what it was without getting closer. After venturing out into the forests, we were able to get a better idea and now know for sure that what we were sensing was a large concentration of Chakra."

Ren, being the astute one he was, asked, "But there's something different about it, isn't there?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. See, when I perform any elemental jutsu, I have to go through two steps to get the proper effect. The first step is Nature Transformation where I actually mould my chakra and change it into the element I want. After that is Shape Transformation where I actually change that chakra's form and movement."

Pyrrha's analytical mind was quick to put the pieces together, "So when you perform your fire dragon jutsu, Nature Transformation turns your chakra into fire while Shape Transformation actually turns it into a dragon and makes it move."

Kurama smirked at seeing the intelligence of the teen, "That's it exactly. Far better explained than what the baka could say."

Ignoring her pouting captain, Nora surprised the others by asking a rare poignant question, "Wait, so can you use all the elements?"

Naruto smiled at the normally hyperactive hammer wielder, "Kind of. From how it was explained to me, any shinobi could learn a jutsu from any of the elements with enough time and practice, but each person is aligned with a certain element or elements. Because of that affinity, it's easier to learn jutsu from that element, but harder to learn jutsu from an opposing element."

"You're aligned with fire, water, and wind," Ren deduced quickly.

"You are both right and wrong," Kurama answered for his Jinchūriki. Seeing the raised eyebrows, one coming from his own container, the Bijū sighed before explaining, "The gaki is naturally aligned with both water and wind, traits passed to him from his mother and father respectively, despite Kushina's lack of skill in ninjutsu, she was still aligned with the element of the Uzumaki. The fire element is something he gained from being my Jinchūriki and my inclination to the element. However as an Uzumaki and Sage, he has another affinity, one a little more obscure. Gaki, what do you remember about Yin and Yang?"

Scratching his head and recalling the brief lesson he had with Yamato-sensei, Naruto answered, "They're the two aspects of chakra, right? Yin has to do with spirit while Yang is the body, I think."

Kurama rolled his eyes at the overly simplistic answer, but continued, "Sort of. Yin is the aspect of spirit and governs over imagination while Yang is the aspect of matter, governing over vitality and physical energy. Now think, as a half blood Uzumaki, what traits do you have that not even other shinobi had."

Assuming his "thinking pose", Naruto counted off, "I heal faster, have more stamina, and I'm pretty good with seals."

Ren and Pyrrha were quick to see what the Kyūbi was pointing out, the latter blurting out, "Naruto has an affinity for Yang."

Of course this caused Nora to begin giggling for seemingly no reason.

Noticing that the others were looking at her questioningly, the orange haired teen explained, "Naruto has an affinity for Yang? You know, blond hair, big boobs? Yang and Yang?"

Naruto sweat dropped, Ren sighed, and Pyrrha gave a light chuckle.

Ignoring the girl, Kurama continued, "Yes. Well, we've gotten rather sidetracked. Naruto's affinities aside, what we found odd about the gathering of chakra was that it wasn't pure. Through some set of circumstances its been changed into the first step of becoming an elemental jutsu."

"So there's pretty much a gathering of raw elemental energy somewhere nearby that we have to investigate, without the others of our group finding out," Ren filled in.

Nodding along, Pyrrha added, "The professors will be easy. They trust us and will leave us alone like they have the last few times we went and explored. It's Jaune who will give us trouble. Any time we split up to explore, he was always near myself and Naruto."

Nora wiggled her brows suggestively, "Maybe he has a crush on our resident red head, eh?"

Sweat dropping, Pyrrha shook her head, "As much as that is...flattering, I'm not interested."

"Right, after all, you already have a hunky blond someone," the hammer wielder giggled.

Coughing in an attempt to hide her blush, Pyrrha suddenly found looking at Naruto to be a little harder.

Said Jinchūriki scratched his head in confusion, "Eh?"

Sighing at his captain's obliviousness, Ren clamped a hand over Nora's mouth, "Don't say it. He'll figure it out himself...one day."

"Sometimes I doubt that," Nora pouted. Really it was becoming increasingly frustrating to watch the two do their little dance, Pyrrha being too shy to broach the topic while Naruto was simply too dense to take notice of how obvious it was that the Invincible Girl liked him.

That wasn't even taking into account the fact that team RWBY's Faunus harbored romantic feelings of her own for the blond Jinchūriki and was similarly afraid to outright say it. And call her crazy, but lately it seemed to Nora that Yang was becoming more and more "touchy feely" in a much more intimate way than was her usual.

Something needed to be done!

"So Neo will keep Jaune off my back long enough for us to regroup and investigate whatever that chakra source is, got it?" Naruto finished.

Blinking, Nora realized too late she had blanked out and become too engrossed in her thoughts, missing whatever it was her teammates had been discussing. Sheepishly chuckling, she asked, "Umm, one more time please?"

Shaking his head, Ren sighed, "Just follow my lead tomorrow ok?"

Giving an enthusiastic salute, the orange haired teen exclaimed, "You got it Ren!"

* * *

Team NNPR rose that morning with a plan in mind, and curiosity nagging at them. After informing Neo of what her part would be, as well as a promise of cake when they got back to Beacon, the group set out into the forests once more.

Following the same plan they had before, the professors allowed the group to splinter, wanting to cover as much ground as possible, oblivious to the machinations of the teens.

A quick thumbs up to his diminutive accomplice, and Naruto was wondering off with Pyrrha.

Ren and Nora headed off in another direction, confusing the latter as she had assumed they were supposed to be investigating the chakra mass together. However after a quick gesture from her long time friend, the hammer wielder followed.

Neo smirked as she glanced at an unsuspecting Jaune from her peripheral vision, her eyes changing into a vivid emerald green. She was going to have fun with this one.

* * *

"Ren! What's going on? I thought we were supposed to be looking into that chakra thingy?" Nora questioned.

"We are, but we had to make the professors and Jaune think we were just wandering off aimlessly. By now, Neo should've had enough time to distract Jaune and lead him away from Naruto and Pyrrha, so we're going to backtrack and meet up with them now," Ren explained.

Before the orange haired teen could say much more, the two were caught off guard when their captain suddenly appeared in a poof of smoke.

"Boss had me transform into a bird and trail you guys. There's also another clone with Neo in case something happens and Jaune figures it out. I'll be helping you guys meet up with boss," the clone elaborated.

Nodding his head, Ren followed the doppelgänger, though a question began to form in his mind as he went over what the Shadow Clone had said, "You clones can change shape?"

"Yup. It's one of the jutsu the boss has perfected, like Kawarimi and Kage Bunshin. It was actually one of the basic three jutsu that were taught at the Academy," the clone Naruto answered.

* * *

Elsewhere, the real Naruto was having a very similar conversation with Pyrrha, "Well the actual jutsu itself is really just a low level illusion. Only thing is, because none of the Academy's teachers were willing to help me, I botched it up when I was learning it and somehow ended up making it an actual transformation."

"So you can actually transform yourself into other people and things?" Pyrrha asked, stunned. Really, one couldn't blame the redhead. The ability to change your form at will had to defy several laws of nature and physics, right? Then again, she could control the polarity of objects, so maybe she wasn't one to talk.

To further make his point, Naruto made a single handseal before he was obscured by a cloud of white smoke. When the cloud cleared, Pyrrha was wide eyed as she laid eyes on an exact clone of Professor Ozpin, cane and all. When the faux-Ozpin spoke, the redhead was even more shocked to hear the same slightly raspy voice of the headmaster come out, "Yep. As long as I have a good enough vision of who I want to be, I can copy pretty much everything about them."

Another poof of smoke and instead of the silver haired headmaster, there was now a perfect copy of Weiss. Unable to resist herself, Pyrrha poked the imposter in the rib, eliciting a high pitched cry of surprise, "That's...amazing!"

Drawing out the signature rapier of the Schnee heiress, Pyrrha watched in awe as Naruto/Weiss went through the motions of using the the weapon, the barrel where Dust was stored spinning, but not lighting up due to the lack of actual Dust.

"But since I can't copy Princess' Semblance or her style of fighting, I can't really use her weapon right. The jutsu is really meant more for espionage and stuff," the Weiss copy stated.

In a third cloud of smoke, the whiskered blond captain of team NNPR was back. Pyrrha shook her head, "I'm glad for that, otherwise it'd be incredibly unfair if you could copy all of our techniques and fighting styles."

Continuing their walk, Naruto scoffed, "Tch, tell that to Sasuke and his family of copy cats."

Raising a brow, Pyrrha had to ask, "What do you mean?"

Naruto had of course mentioned the name of his former teammates and even told her a little about all of them so she knew the name. He often spoke with a fondness when he mentioned the only female of the team, Sakura. He had even admitted that once upon a time, he had chased her because he thought he was in love with her. Thankfully, he told her that he later realized that although he did love the pink haired girl, it was more in the manner that a brother loves a sister.

Then there was Kakashi, or Kaka-sensei as Naruto called him, whom she found out was the one to have sent the Jinchūriki hurdling through time as their home village was beset. Again, it was with a tone of love that the blond often spoke of the silver haired teacher. From what she could piece together, as much as the man had been his sensei, the two had also had a sort of familial bond.

Lastly was Sasuke. The apparently broody Uchiha of Team 7 was something of a sore subject for Naruto. He had told her that once upon a time, they had insulted and fought each other in a way that almost made it seem like they were the worst of enemies. As they were forced to spend more time together as a team, they grew a sort of respect and camaraderie for the other. Eventually, they were close enough to be considered brothers, having shared similar backgrounds and aspirations.

That changed horribly and violently when Sasuke left Konoha in order to get training from another of Konoha's rogue nin. Pyrrha had seen the scar and even to this day, it was as clear as day that Sasuke had been aiming to kill Naruto. Even after witnessing the power of his regenerative abilities first hand, the redhead had no idea how a younger Naruto had survived being run through by a fist covered in lightning, not once, but twice.

In Pyrrha's mind, Sasuke was the scum of the earth. Betraying your home village for greedy ambitions was one thing, but to also attempt to murder someone you considered a brother for those same reasons was vile and sickening.

However, it seemed that in the time that Naruto had been in Remnant, he had begun to come to terms with a lot of things, Sasuke's defection being among them. It was still far from being the whiskered teen's favorite subject, but seeing as there had been no closure or any sort of redemption, no one could blame him.

"Well, remember I told you he came from this super prestigious clan? Well the big reason his clan was a big deal was because they had this kekkai genkai, or Bloodline Limit called the Sharingan. It was this eye thing that let them copy any nin, gen, or taijutsu style they saw. They could then turn around and use whatever they copied as their own. It also let them cast illusions on you if you looked them in the eye. Stupid thing even let them see chakra and predict what you were going to do next."

While Pyrrha was amused by the childish anger her partner had in regards to his teammate's ability, it was more concerning that this Sharingan pretty much allowed the Uchiha to steal the hard work of others with no drawback. As if that wasn't enough, it also gave them a plethora of other abilities? That was almost as unfair as Naruto's own abilities.

"I see what you mean. For someone to essentially steal another's hard work like that isn't right and sounds wrong, though I don't think you're one to talk about unfair abilities," Pyrrha teased.

Naruto scratched his head, "Whatcha mean?"

"You have near unlimited stamina, a variety of large scale and destructive elemental techniques, an almost literal force of nature partnered with you, can add to your own powers by taking in the power of nature, and can heal from even cellular damage. You have a rather unfair advantage over most any Huntsman," Ren answered, he and Nora having finally caught up to their teammates.

"Huh, well when you put it like that," Naruto sheepishly replied.

"So, how far are we from that chakra mass?" Ren inquired, changing the subject.

Getting serious, Naruto frowned thoughtfully, "Not too far off now. At this rate, we should get there in another couple minutes."

"Do you know where it is exactly?" Pyrrha asked.

Cracking open his eyes, Kurama answered, "Underground. We're not sure if there is a nearby cave of some sort, but it's a possibility that we'll need to do some digging to get to it."

"Oh! Can we build some dirt castles while we're at it?" Nora asked, speaking up for the first time.

"I don't think we'll need to," Ren answered simply.

The group of four teens gazed at the mouth of a gaping cave opening, hewn straight into the ground at a harsh slant. The entrance was surrounded by an overgrowth of hanging vines and fallen tree stumps, a deep inky blackness keeping them from being able to see what exactly lay inside. Really, it was less of a cave opening and more of a chasm given that it lead straight underground.

"Hey, Pyrrha, remind you of anything?" Naruto joked.

Recalling their encounter with a certain Deathstalker Grimm several months ago, Pyrrha sighed, "Hopefully this doesn't end up like that."

Examining the area, Ren interjected, "We may have some trouble actually getting in. It's too dark to even guess how far down this leads and none of these plants are anywhere near strong enough to hold our weight."

Raising a brow, Naruto simply began to walk forward. Reaching the chasm entrance, he continued forward, heedless of the no doubt hundreds of feet drop. Seeing their captain casually walk off the ledge, the others raced to the chasm's edge. Peering over the gaping hole, Ren sighed, "Right, you can walk on walls."

Grinning cheekily from his position on the side of the sheer rock face, Naruto said nothing.

A few minutes later, the members of team NNPR were slowly making their way down through the dank chasm, Nora and Ren carried by a Kage Bunshin while Pyrrha was left in the care of the original blond. While the other three could barely see their own hands in front of their faces, Naruto and Kurama could see quite easily, the former thanks to liberal use of chakra being sent into his eyes, and the latter using his fox like form to his advantage.

"We're about to level out, but it looks like this place is gonna be a little troublesome to get around in," Naruto announced.

Shaking his head, Ren sighed, "It's a maze down here, isn't it?"

"C'mon Ren! You should know that nothing is ever easy with Captain Whiskers," Nora chuckled.

Finally reaching a point where they could stand on their own, team NNPR gazed out at the numerous paths before them, helpfully illuminated thanks to Kurama igniting his tail with a small fire.

Going with the obvious, Naruto summoned up a clone for each of the routes available to them and sent them onward. However, minutes after, Naruto winced as he received an influx of memories from said clones being forcibly dispelled. Concerned, Pyrrha asked, "What happened? What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, the blond teen answered, "I'm fine, but we have a bit of a problem. The whole place is rigged with traps."

"Like with giant boulders?" Nora asked, half joking and half serious.

Choosing to not acknowledge the random comment, Ren frowned thoughtfully, "Traps? That must mean that-"

"Someone else was here and doesn't want whatever is here to be found," Kurama finished gravely, staring at where he could sense the chakra mass.

For a moment, the group of teens mulled the thought over, going over the ramifications of what the Bijū's statement meant. Could this be linked to them finding Konoha? Could the location or a hint of the village be hidden here? Or was it something else entirely? Why would someone go through the trouble of doing all of this? What could possibly lay so deep underground, guarded by lethal traps?

Or was this simply all done to guard a mass of energy?

* * *

Panting and dripping with sweat, Jaune strafed to the right, dodging a strike from the clawed paws of a Beowulf. Bringing up his sword, the Atlesian easily cut a bloody path through the beast's jugular.

Standing up straight and wiping the sweat from his brow, the blond teen observed his handiwork, a handful of Beowulf and Creep Grimm corpses littering the small clearing. Turning to his temporary partner, Jaune was glad to see the diminutive teen was equally capable of handling her own enemies.

"I wonder why there seems to be so many Grimm today! This is more than we've seen the whole time we've been here," Jaune stated.

Neo in return shrugged.

Sighing, Jaune mentally lamented his misfortune of being paired with the non-verbal parasol wielder.

"Well, guess we should keep moving right?"

Neo simply nodded.

Scratching his head the blond attempted to reorient himself and figure out which way Naruto and Pyrrha had headed, wanting to follow Ironwood's direction and keep an eye on his fellow blond.

He was relieved when he briefly caught sight of a familiar shade of red peeking through the foliage.

Moving to follow the lead, Jaune remained completely ignorant to the malicious smile on the face of his ice cream themed "partner". With the teen far enough out of earshot, the "Grimm corpses" shattered like a pane of glass breaking into thousands of shards, falling away to reveal a pristine clearing, free of any Grimm or signs that a skirmish had even taken place.

Keeping that same smirk, Neo followed the Atlesian, her eyes flashing briefly to a familiar shade of green before returning to a combination of pale pink and light brown.

Oh yes, she was more than happy to have been sent on this mission, the promise of cake from a certain whiskered teen making it all the more worthwhile. Then again, getting to mess with this buffoon was reward enough.

* * *

"Ya know, I still feel like it's pretty irresponsible of you to just let your students wander uncharted forests while you sit back and relax here with us," Grey stated with a raised brow.

Sitting across from him, one leg crossed over the other and a book in hand, Professor Panathenaia allowed her gaze to flicker towards the older Huntsman before returning to her book, "And like I've said before, they're fine. If anything, not having us around will do them more good than if we were with them."

"Maybe I was wrong, maybe you have changed after all," the veteran Huntsman shook his head.

The bespectacled Professor ignored the backhanded comment, flipping another page in her book.

After all, he hadn't seen the power wielded by the whiskered leader of team NNPR. Not only that, but the blond seemed to have the Devil's luck when it came to situations like this. Better to let it play out as it would instead of foolishly trying to get in the way.

'_Hm, now I'm starting to see how Ozpin see's things….that's probably not a good thing actually.'_

* * *

**AN: **Short, I know, but like I said, I want to be able to stretch this arc over a few chapters. Not only that, but this will also give me the drive to really start working on getting these chapters out quicker.

I know I said slower updates would keep a volume between me and the official release, but me doing an update a month will more than likely end up with 2 seasons between, which isn't bad, but probably doesn't make any of you happy.

That in mind, I've been thinking on something. Should I switch over to doing shorter chapters like this more often, a long chapter when needed, or attempt to keep with the longer 7k-ish chapters that make up a bulk of this story? Let me know with a review or PM if you care enough to do so.

Still, I'm struggling to find time to work on The Auspice (I know said that would be out weeks ago) and the whole Yandere Hinata thing (that one due to it constantly being rewritten) so hopefully I can get into some sort of groove and figure out how I can pace myself.

Well, I'm ready to face the chorus of somewhat unhappy reviews due to this chapter not being too plot or action heavy, but I promise you all, next chapter will be out MUCH quicker and be a return to the important shit.

Hopefully this doesn't deter this story from hitting that 2k review goal. Who knows, if that happens, maybe the next chapter will be even more badass, *hint hint*.

See ya guys in with the next release!

Peace out


	25. Chapter 25

**AN:** 2k. Two. Fucking. Thousand. Two thousand reviews. Two thousand and some favorites. THREE thousand and some follows. That is a whole lot of people. It really is something so hard to grasp that so many people enjoy something that I've done to such a degree. People take time out of their day to review or even message me in concerns to this story. When you really think about that, it's unreal.

I say it every chapter, I know, but fucking Christ, y'all are great. For the most part, the lot of you aren't assholes (so far as I know) and that's pretty damn great. Looking back, it's hard to believe this ended up as something I've done for a year. So much has happened in my life during that year, that I forget that. Then I look back and think, "Wow...yeah I've definitely gotten better." Some of those first few chapters...yeesh.

But that's thanks to the dozens of people who have lent a helping hand.

Well guys, we march forward. As we grow closer to the looming future of Vol. 3, I grow even more giddy. There are SO many things I've got planned to happen between then and now and I can't wait to get them out to you guys.

And that starts with this chapter.

Have at it!

* * *

"Why don't you just keeping spamming clones Captain Whiskers? They'll find the right path eventually, right?" Nora asked, attempting to be helpful.

Ren was the one to answer, "With as many options as there are, it would take far too long to figure out which is the right way to go and we have no idea how much longer Neo will be able to fool Jaune."

As if on cue, Naruto winced, receiving the memories of a clone, "Not much longer. He's already extremely suspicious and definitely knows something's going on."

Pyrrha stepped forward, "Then we'll just have to pick a path, follow it, and hope for the best."

At that, everyone turned their attention to Naruto. When he realized that all eyes were on him, Naruto chuckled unsurely, "Uh, yeah?"

"You are our captain. There's no one better suited to choose which tunnel we follow," Pyrrha urged, an encouraging smile on her face.

"That and you also have the most luck out of us," Ren added.

Taking a moment, Naruto attempted to gather his thoughts. There had to be some way to narrow down the choices without wasting a huge amount of time. While he was pretty good at sensing his surroundings, he was nowhere close to as good as an actual Sensor type.

'But I can get pretty darn close!' The blond thought with a grin.

Inhaling, the whiskered teen closed his eyes and gathered himself, finding that inner peace many spent years searching for. Reaching out the proverbial hand, the former shinobi turned Huntsman in training beckoned for Nature, asking for its help.

Nature answered the call, filling its avatar with its strength and wisdom.

Opening his eyes, the curious gazes of his teammates met the blond's now honey brown eyes. The three teens were of course curious to know why their captain had taken on his Sage Mode, something they thought was better suited for the battlefield after having seen how immensely powerful he was when aided by Nature itself.

For now though, Naruto put his heightened senses to use, spreading out his awareness in an encompassing blanket. He could feel the movements of the small critters that dwelled in the caves as they scurried about, becoming even more aware of the large gathering of elemental chakra that lay further in the cavern. Focusing on that, the blond sage attempted to glean any clues he could from it and its surroundings, hoping it would reveal some clue to figuring out how to get to it.

Snapping open his eyes, Naruto grinned, "This way!"

Without another word, the four teens and Bijū were off in a dead sprint, their feet pounding against the stone floor as they made their way through a near pitch black and winding tunnel. While Naruto was now even more capable of getting around in the darkness, Kurama, sat on his container's shoulder, acted as a guiding light for the other three members of team NNPR as they followed their captain's lead.

Much to everyone's relief, whatever their captain had done apparently helped him choose the right path as, a few minutes into their sprint, they had yet to bump into any traps.

Keeping a near breakneck pace, Naruto was really pushing the limits of his team's stamina and speed. They all knew he was a stamina beast and could definitely out speed any one of them, but the pace he had set and was continuing to go at was grueling. Even Pyrrha, who trained with the former shinobi on a somewhat regular basis, was starting to feel the burn in her legs and lungs. Really, it was only thanks to liberal use of their Aura that Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were able to trail behind Naruto.

Thankfully for them, the light of Kurama's fire was quickly becoming outshone by a much brighter source ahead, signaling the end of the tunnel.

With anticipation and excitement rushing through them, team NNPR burst into the light, eager to see the reason for someone going through all of the trouble to this all up.

* * *

"I wonder how Naruto and his team are doing," Ruby pondered to herself aloud as she meticulously went through the process of cleaning and caring for Crescent Rose. With a weapon as massive and intricate as the high caliber sniper scythe, regular maintenance was a must.

"By now that idiot's probably managed to get him and his teammates wrapped up in some convoluted situation or something," Weiss replied flippantly, more occupied by cataloging her Dust so that it was all organized alphabetically.

Shaking her head, Blake simply continued to sharpen the many blades of Gambol Shroud with a whetstone, "Considering that every mission they've gone on has ended up in some larger and much more dangerous mishap, Weiss is probably right."

Grinning, Yang added, "Man, you guys make it sound like a bad thing! I can't wait till we get to start doing our own missions! Imagine all the adventures we'll have and the places we'll see! It'll be great!"

Rolling her eyes, Blake replied, "Says the girl whose idea of fun is ending up in a massive brawl in an underground club."

Ignoring the attempted insult, the busty blonde nodded her head, "Yeah, fun!"

"Sometimes I wonder how you two are even related," Weiss remarked, bringing up the more noticeable differences between Yang and Ruby.

"Well that's easy! I'm the awesome and hot older sister, and Ruby is the cute and adorable younger sister! Duh," Yang answered as if it was most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey! I'm awesome too! Don't forget who's team captain, right Weiss?" Ruby indignantly cried.

The Schnee heiress looked over her shoulder with a cold look, "No."

"Aww man," the younger teen sulked.

Deciding to change the subject, Yang suddenly said, "So...anyone wanna take bets on how banged up Foxy is when he gets back?"

"Yang! How appalling that you would suggest such a thing! We're talking about the well being of a fellow student of Beacon here, no matter how strong he may be!" Weiss spoke up. Noticing that her teammates were all giving her strange looks, the white haired teen sighed before pulling out her wallet, "Give me 10 lien on a broken limb."

The raven haired Faunus of the team shook her head, "Naruto heals extremely fast. 10 lien on near death situation but totally fine."

"No fair! That's like a guarantee with Naruto!"

The bond between the members of team RWBY and NNPR was one to truly be admired.

* * *

_'What is going on here!? I feel like I've been running in endless circles! And what's with all these Grimm? There is no way this many of these monsters have been around these forests without us already bumping into them,'_ an extremely frustrated Jaune mentally complained.

Eyes flickering to and fro, the blond attempted to spot even the smallest of hints that could possibly lead him to figuring out what was going on. However, some small part of him kept telling him to keep his eyes on his temporary mission partner. For some reason, his gut was telling him that the diminutive girl had something to do with what was going on.

Neo, while aware of the Atlesian's growing suspicion, was still having a grand old time, happily pushing her Semblance to higher and higher levels in a bid to keep Jaune ensnared in her web of illusions.

She would have to thank Naruto for giving her the opportunity to have this much fun when she got the chance.

* * *

"Woah," Nora breathed out, stunned beyond measure.

Her teammates were just as awed by the sight before them, even Naruto finding himself at a loss for words.

Illuminating the underground cavern and covering everything from the floor to the ceiling were pulsing crystals of varying sizes, each burning with a different color of the rainbow in a variety of different hues. Filled with the energy of the elements, the crystalline formations seemed to hum and vibrate, filling the enclosed space with a sense of warmth and life that Naruto could only liken to how it felt to use Sage Mode.

In fact, still being in his Sennin Mōdo, the spiky haired blond was made even more aware of just how alive the stone room felt. And there was really no other way he could describe the sensation of being there, the cavern feeling well and truly alive with the energy of nature in all its various elemental forms being present.

"This is...amazing," a breathless Pyrrha finally whispered, somehow afraid that by speaking, her words would in some way damage the tranquility and awe inspiring beauty of the place.

Still speechless, a stunned Naruto took a step forward, and what happened next surprised even Kurama.

As the blond moved to step further into the cavern, the crystals seemed to pulse erratically, almost as if they were waking up from their slumber.

While he was just as struck by the sheer beauty of what lay before them, Kurama couldn't help but to feel as if there was something else here, something more to this cave than just crystallized chakra, something familiar.

As he wracked his brain for what could possibly be bugging his instincts, the Bijū too late realized that in their stupor, Naruto had stepped onto what looked like a sealing matrix of some sort, inadvertently activating it.

"You moron! What did you do!?" The Kyūbi barked.

Cursing, Naruto attempted to jump away, only to realize that part of the seal's duty was to apparently keep whoever activated it pinned to the spot. The two were even more surprised to find that, although Kurama wasn't physically connected to the seal himself, he was just as unable to move from his spot around his container's neck.

"Naruto!" Pyrrha cried out, rushing out to her friend.

However, a second mechanism of the seal came to life, forming a luminescent yet faint yellow barrier, barring the rest of team NNPR from entering the cavern.

Beginning to panic, the redhead pulled out her shield and attempted to ram her way through the barrier. As she clashed with the glowing wall, the seal lashed out, sending her tumbling backwards with a cry of shock.

Stepping up to the plate, Nora took on an unusually serious face as she held up Magnhild. Glowing a light pink, the orange haired teen poured as much strength as she could into her strike.

An explosion of pink and yellow blinded an onlooking Ren and Pyrrha, the barrier taking the full might of the teen's hit. As the sudden flash cleared away, it seemed as if Nora would push through and break the barrier through her sheer strength alone, the yellow wall of energy bending and giving way under the force being exerted.

In a surprise turn of events, the barrier seemed to gain even more strength, suddenly pushing back against Nora with even more force. Unprepared for the sudden retaliation, Nora was sent slamming into a nearby stone wall with an audible crack.

Seeing this, Ren knew his own chances of success were nonexistent. Nora was far stronger than he would ever be and if she couldn't even so much a scratch the barrier, then it was pointless for him to try.

Clenching his fists, the long haired male frowned as he could do nothing but hope his captain was doing what he could to get out of there.

* * *

While his teammates struggled with the barrier, Naruto was trying to figure out just what the seal was meant to do. Aside from pinning him to the ground and blocking the entrances to the cavern, the seal wasn't doing much else it seemed. What then was the point? Why would someone take the time to set this all up?

More over, who could have possibly made a seal this intricate and well crafted? While the use of Fūinjutsu was hardly rare, the amount of people who could claim to be well versed practitioners during his time was all but a small handful, himself included, and this was clearly made after he had been thrown into the future.

"So you've finally made your way here, child of Asura."

At hearing the voice, one he hadn't heard since he had been born, Kurama's head snapped up, crimson eyes wide in astonishment, "H-How?...tou-sama?"

Staring into a familiar yet entirely different set of the legendary Rinnegan _(Samsāra Eye)_, the half blood Uzumaki felt himself suddenly overcome with a sense of awe and reverence.

This was the man who had literally begun the age of shinobi, the man who had gifted others with the teachings of Ninshū, the precursor to Ninjutsu. Standing before him was the man responsible for stopping the Jūbi, a beast so powerful it may well have been a primordial God, a man who had then gone on to seal that same monster into himself, becoming the first Jinchūriki.

But his feats didn't stop there. No, there was a very good reason this man had all but ascended into godhood, becoming a legend thought to be nothing but a myth.

Standing before Naruto, casually floating above the ground in a lotus position, was the legendary Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Rikudō Sennin _(Sage of Six Paths)_, the original Kami no Shinobi, and father to the fearsome Nine Tailed Beasts.

Garbed in a pristine all white kimono with a high collar, the signature magatama arranged around said collar, a pair of horns emerging from the start of his hairline, keeping the shaggy mess of pale red hair out of his Rinnegan, and a long goatee of the same hair color trailing down, stopping at his waist, the Sage cut an imposing yet regal figure.

Despite his being slightly shorter than Naruto's impressive six feet, the progenitor of the Shinobi sect seemed far more impressive than the blond, his presence alone feeling like a physical weight. The gaze of the light purple and concentric ringed eyes of the Rinnegan did nothing to calm Naruto's nerves either.

Having faced down a countless number of frighteningly powerful beings before, Naruto had thought himself capable of standing tall before anything and anyone he crossed paths with.

How wrong he was.

But why had the Sage called him a "child of Asura"?

"Child of Asura? What're you talking about?"

"Simple. You, Naruto Uzumaki, are a descendant of my youngest son, Asura, just as all Senju and Uzumaki are," Hagoromo explained calmly.

Having been told he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, a hero of his home village, Naruto had thought he'd never be surprised about his heritage. He was apparently dead wrong.

"W-What!?"

Not at all perturbed by the teen's outburst, the Sage answered, "It is true. What's more, like some of your ancestors before you, you have become host to my son's Chakra and will, his latest transmigrant."

Had it not been for the seal keeping him glued to the floor, Naruto would've fallen on his ass in surprise. Son to a Kage and Jinchūriki to the strongest of the Bijū? Sure, fine, he could deal with it. But host to the chakra and descendant of one of the Rikudō Sennin's sons? That was a whole hell of a lot to take in.

"So that's why the gaki reminded me so much of that one," Kurama mused aloud, taking the news a lot better than his container.

Nodding, Hagoromo continued, "Indeed. However, there are more pressing things that need to be discussed."

Gathering himself, or attempting to at least, Naruto asked, "Like what?"

Turning his full gaze to his descendant, the Sage began, "While I, like you, loathe the idea of destiny, certain...events should have transpired during your time. How they would have ended depended entirely on you and your actions in response to those events. However, something disturbed the cycle. Obito Uchiha should have never led a full assault on Konoha like he did. The ensuing turn of events leading to you being thrust this far into the future began a cascading series of events that drastically changed everything. In all of the possible outcomes, none of them lead to you being here. None of them lead to the monstrosities known as the Creatures of Grimm. None of them had you here, in this world now known as Remnant."

Scoffing, Kurama groused, "There's a very good reason why the gaki earned the title of 'Most Surprising Ninja'."

A faint grin crossed the wrinkled and aged visage of the first Jinchūriki, "Yes, that has been proven time and again. Although you remind me very much of my youngest, you are indeed a unique existence Uzumaki Naruto." Allowing the grin to fade, becoming serious once more, the Rinnegan user continued, "As I was saying, you should have never ended up here. But that is not the case. You are here, and already you have greatly changed this time just as you had your own."

While Naruto had done a lot of maturing this past year, he was still rather impatient, "While I get what you're saying, what does it matter? You even said so yourself, it shouldn't have happened, but it did. What's the point of this? Why call me down here?"

"When you were expelled from your time, everything fell apart. You were meant to be a hugely important player, the Child of Prophecy. You were to either lead the world to a time of great peace, something even I had failed at, or lead it to its ultimate ruin. Without you there, the world collapsed," the Sage gravely explained. Seeing the horrified look on his descendant's face, Hagoromo continued, "As you have no doubt already discovered, the shinobi era is now but a forgotten time, an age whispered to have been the worst and bloodiest time of mankind."

Clenching his fists, Naruto questioned his ancestor, "But why!? What happened after I left!? What happened that lead to all of this!? Why can people no long use chakra? Why do the Grimm exist?"

"With you gone, taking the last and most important piece of his plan, Obito flew into a rage. He foolishly revived Madara Uchiha, the instigator and cause for much grief and death that stretched to even your generation. Just as angry that his life plan had failed due to your disappearance, Madara attempted to recreate the Jūbi without Kurama. That plan failed, horrendously. Without the largest piece of it, the Jūbi was nothing but a mindless beast of destruction, wielding the power of eight of the Bijū. In its blind rage, it killed Madara, Obito, and brought death to almost the entirety of the Shinobi world. In a last ditch effort to stop it, I tried to help the descendant of my eldest son, Indra, your friend Sasuke. But, even that failed, the worst of my fears coming to realization," The Rikudō sighed.

Holding in the storm of questions that whirled around inside his head, Naruto listened attentively. What else could he do? What he was being told had already happened, there was nothing he could do to change that. But still, as much as it pained him, he needed to know.

"What do you know of the Jūbi?" The Sage suddenly asked.

Scratching his head, Naruto shrugged, "Just what Kurama's told me, that it was a product of the Shinju coming to take back its chakra. You and your brother fought it, defeated it and sealed its body into a rock prison, throwing it into space, creating the moon. Then you sealed its soul and chakra in you, making you the first Jinchūriki. Knowing that when you died, it'd be released, you split it into nine different beings you created, turning them into the Bijū."

"That is...mostly correct." Seeing the questioning gaze of the blond, the Sage explained, "The Jūbi was not the Shinju, at least not entirely. The Jūbi was the byproduct of the Shinju merging with my mother, Kaguya, the original wielder of chakra."

Listening, wide eyed and beyond astounded, Naruto could not believe the true story behind the birth of chakra. How the Sage's mother, Kaguya, had been a princess who ate a fruit from the God Tree, using the powers it gifted her with to stop the endless wars that engulfed mankind at the time. Then came his and his brother, Hamura's, birth, the birth of the first natural born chakra users.

However, arguments about the path to true peace began to tear the Ōtsutsuki family apart. Kaguya, who had used an iron fist to quell the wars of that time, believed that force and power was the true path to eternal peace. Hamura and Hagoromo argued that love and understanding would lead to a true sense of peace.

Angry that her sons went against her wishes and began to give out the power of chakra with the intent to prove their point, the Mother of Chakra merged with the Shinju and became the Jūbi, hell bent on reclaiming the chakra from her sons as well as the people they had given it to.

Thus began the battle between mother and children.

"Ok, so your mom was actually the Jūbi and crazy powerful. What's that have to do with anything? You and your brother defeated her," Naruto asked, becoming impatient once more.

Hagoromo was still not at all bothered by the whiskered teen's impatience, "Without our knowing, my mother created a being known as Zetsu before she was sealed, a creature whose sole purpose was to revive her through any means. Zetsu, without anyone knowing, began to pull the strings. He was the one who instigated the fighting between my sons, leading to decades of needless death, hate, and wars. He fooled Madara into believing the Eye of the Moon plan would lead to peace. He started each of the Great Shinobi wars. He fooled everyone and was the one ultimately responsible for the fall of your time. Despite my best efforts, he succeeded and my mother was revived...at least partially."

Understanding now where it was going, Naruto spoke up, "Without Kurama, someone who held a huge portion of her power, she wasn't at complete strength, was she?"

The Sage nodded, "Yes. However, she was still plenty powerful, more than strong enough to begin taking back the chakra I had given out."

It was at this point that Naruto found himself confused, "Then what happened? If your mother was so powerful and managed to go through with her plan, why are we here? Shouldn't the world still be ruled by her or something?"

"Like I said, in a last ditch effort, I attempted to help Sasuke in defeating her. While he managed to do some damage, alone, he was no match for my mother, despite my gifts to him. However, he did manage to...fracture her and, with my help, seal her away. But their battle took its toll and he passed. His last act was creating this seal, both of us knowing that, somehow, you would manage to find your way here. Even I should have passed on, but thanks to the seal, I've kept this fragment around so that I could warn you," Hagoromo intoned.

"Warn me? Warn me about what?" Naruto urged, now worried.

"My mother was sealed once before, split in two. Thanks to that monstrosity that is her physical will, she managed to bring herself back. I have no doubt that she is capable of doing it again. I also do not doubt that the current state of the world is in no small part due to her machinations. Being tied to this seal, I have been unable to see what is truly going on, using small bursts of my chakra and powers to glean what information I could. I do not know the exact cause for the creation of these Creatures of Grimm, nor do I know the exact reason for the birth of this 'Aura', or such, but I have no doubt in my mind that my mother is at the heart of it."

Taking a breathe, the Sage let his feet touch the ground, coming to stand just before Naruto and gazing directly into the teen's ocean blue eyes, "Be wary Uzumaki Naruto. You are truly now the last Shinobi and the only one capable of stopping my mother and righting the wrongs myself and your ancestors created. Already you've begun walking the path to do just that. I believe in you, just as so many others have and still do. As I am, I am sadly unable to gift you your birthright as a child of my blood, but I will say this - the bond between you and Kurama has yielded amazing things, however there is still more you two are capable of. Just as I told my son so long ago, you are right, the path to true peace is one of love and understanding, do no be afraid to stand in the face of adversity for it."

Taking a deep breath, one much needed, Naruto bowed to his forefather, "Arigatou. I will not fail you, I swear it."

Allowing a fond smile to cross his wizened face, the Sage turned his gaze to Kurama, "He will need your help."

Scoffing, the Bijū mocked, "What's new?"

Nodding, Hagoromo placed a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Now I think I've kept you long enough, your friends seem to be very worried. I'll leave you with this though, Konoha still holds to its name."

Before Naruto could ask more, just now realizing that he was no longer in that cave filled with chakra crystals, a blinding light engulfed him, the last thing he saw being the fading visage of a smiling Sage.

The next thing the whiskered teen knew, he was waking up with a gasp. Blinking away the after effects of whatever had hit him, Naruto was surprised to find himself on the floor, his head resting on Pyrrha's lap as a clearly concerned redhead combed her finger through his hair, gazing at him with worry-filled emeralds.

Seeing a pair of familiar blues staring back at her, Pyrrha inhaled, "Naruto! You're alright!"

Turning, Naruto saw Nora and Ren rushing to his side as well, equal parts curious and concerned.

"Captain Whiskers! What happened there!?" Nora questioned.

Shaking off the cobwebs, Naruto slowly rose to his feet, aided by a helping hand from Pyrrha, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Frowning at the casual way he brushed off whatever had happened, Pyrrha inquired, "Are you sure you're alright? After that barrier eventually fell, we rushed in to find you and Kurama just passed out on the floor. You've been out for a while actually."

"And why wouldn't we? What could've happened that tops you being a child soldier from thousands of years ago?" Ren inquired with a raised brow.

The blond captain chuckled, "Well, let me start with it actually being the first Jinchūriki who called me here, a man thought to have been a myth by even my people."

Nudging her childhood friend in the ribs, Nora teased, "C'mon, you should know better by now than to question Captain Whiskers."

Sighing, Ren acknowledged the truth in the hammer wielder's words, "I really should by now."

Although beyond curious to know what had happened, Pyrrha was more relieved than anything else, "We can talk about this later. Right now we should probably head back, before Jaune figures out what's going on."

Nodding his head, Naruto agreed, "Yeah, Pyrrha's right. Besides, I could use some fresh air and sunlight right about now."

Putting a finger to her chin, Nora wondered aloud, "Does anyone know how we get out of here?"

Slowly, all heads turned to their whiskered captain whose own eyes widened, "...shit."

* * *

Later that night, a blank faced blond found himself laid out atop the roof of the building the mission group were staying in, staring at the endless blanket of the night sky, the light of the stars and fractured moon illuminating the otherwise dark night.

_'Kurama?'_ Feeling the sleeping Bijū grunt in acknowledgment, Naruto continued,_ '...has the moon always been...broken like that'?'_

With a start, the Bijū leapt to its feet, staring into the sky with wide eyes as it gazed at the clearly fragmented satellite, _'How had we never noticed!?'_

_'You don't think it has anything to do with Kaguya, do you?' _

_'The moon was created by the Sage as a PRISON for her! Of course it being shattered like that has something to do with her!'_ Kurama barked.

The pair were interrupted by the appearance of a certain redhead joining them.

"How are you holding up?"

Chuckling, Naruto shrugged, "Bah, it's nothing new for me."

Laughing quietly at her partner's usual joke cockiness, Pyrrha sat herself at his side, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"As ready as I can be. Finding Konoha is still gonna be pretty tough, even with the old Sage's hint," Naruto huffed.

"Nothing is ever that easy with you Naruto, we all know this by now," Pyrrha giggled.

Laying back with his hands folded behind his head, the Jinchūriki sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"...have ever though got about what would've happened if you weren't sent here?" Pyrrha suddenly asked.

Naruto took a moment to think before answering, "When I first realized that this was the future, yeah. It was almost all I thought about. But, like I told the old Sage, what's done is done. I can't waste my time thinking about all the 'what if's'. Brooding was always Sasuke's thing anyways." Grinning, the blue eyed teen turned his attention from the night sky to the red haired beauty, "Besides, if it hadn't happened, I would have never met you, team RWBY, or anyone really. I would've never gotten the chance to be on a team with you, Nora, and Ren. I probably would've still had a cruddy relationship with Fuzzbutt here. Like I said when I told you guys the truth, I'm happy here with all of you."

In turn Pyrrha smiled warmly, "I'm glad to hear that."

"What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, have you ever thought about what it'd be like if I wasn't here," Naruto asked, turning the question back to the emerald eyed teen.

For a moment, Pyrrha seemed to struggle with the answer, "I...I don't think I could. You're my first true friend, the first person who made me feel like...well me. I don't ever have to feel like I have to pretend to be someone I'm not around you. I really can't think of my life without you in it Naruto."

Surprised by the genuine honesty in Pyrrha's words, Naruto was, not for the first time, made aware of how much of an impact he had on the lives of the people around him. Sure, he had always been told he had the uncanny ability to bring out the best in others and even make friends out of enemies or make people believe in him, but it was only here in Remnant that it was actually being shown to his face.

Sure Konoha had prospered in its relationships with other villages and countries like Yuki/ Haru no Kuni _(Land of Snow/Spring)_, Takigakure _(Village Hidden by a Waterfall)_, Hoshigakure _(Village Hidden Among the Stars)_, Nami no Kuni _(Land of Waves)_, Oni no Kuni _(Land of Demons)_, and countless other territories due in no small part to Naruto and his actions.

But, seeing as how he was never directly involved in the day to day politics of those dealings, he was never able to see for himself just how much he had impacted those places and its people. For goodness sake, it wasn't until after his trip with Jiraiya that he had learned that Nami had named the massive bridge that connected it to the mainland after him. He had a freaking bridge named after him and he didn't find out until years later!

Really, no one could blame Naruto for being surprised. Although the celebration he had received after defeating Pein/Nagato had been eye opening and beyond joyous, what made him happy was knowing that even here in the far future, with a more mature mindset and in different situation altogether, he was still able to really leave a mark on the people around him.

It also meant that striving for the peace and ideals so many had entrusted to him wasn't such a far fetched dream, even if it meant starting out small again.

* * *

**AN:** And done!

I'll happily admit that I really started to struggle towards the end. The amount of times I rewrote some of that stuff, yeesh.

But! Finally got it done!

Now, I know I said at the very start of this story that Kaguya, Madara, Sasuke, or anyone from Naruto's time would not be coming back or anything like that. And even still, after what I had happen this chapter, I stand by that.

RWBY has damn good characters, plot, and an interesting world all on its own and I will not spit on or cheapen it by defaulting to Naruto world villains or such.

It's one of my biggest gripes with some crossovers.

That said, I think how I've gone about this, weaving the Naruto world into the RWBY one and leaving it as the past, does both justice. I will continue to acknowledge the Naruto-verse in small and big ways, but in no way will it ever supersede the RWBY verse and its own story.

So then the question is, why mention Kaguya and how she may be responsible for the state of Remnant if I have no plans to include her? Why say I have to connect Salem and Kaguya if the latter won't appear? To answer those questions, I will say this: the exact relationship between Kaguya and Salem has not been officially stated.

You'll just all have to wait and see what I have planned for the two white haired women!

In other news, RWBY Chibi is beyond adorable and just the breathe of fresh air I needed after Vol. 3 went all Game of Thrones on us. I may try and include some of those skits into this if only cause it'd be different with the obvious change in blond males and such.

Speaking of Vol. 3, THE OST. SO GOOD. I am loving the HELL out of I'm the One, Divide, Mirror Mirror pt 2, and When it Falls. Mad that it's STILL not out in Spotify, but thanks to RT4C on YouTube for posting the entire OST on their channel.

Also I feel like Divide is now even more evidence of what I've said before, that something huge is going on behind the scenes and despite what happened, a clear Good v Evil is far from being made clear. It may not seem like it, but Salem and her side seem to have a damn good argument.

"It was you who ended their lives, made them dig their own graves, with your dark, sick, cruel design. Convinced them their world could be saved."

"Sacrifice them for your needs, slaughter is coming, the end drawing near. You'll regret your deeds."

Coming from Salem clearly aiming this at Ozpin, something is definitely up.

Then there's the whole "Legends and fairy tales scattered through time, Maidens and Kingdoms wrapped up in a lie."

Salem knows something and Ozpin has got some shit to fess up for.

As usual, if anyone else wants to nerd out with me over my theories and such, or share theirs, feel free to pm me.

I'd like to say one last time, thank you all so much for that 2k review score. You've all helped to make this among the most popular Naruto x RWBY stories and I could not thank you all enough for that.

Until next chapter!

Peace out!


	26. Chapter 26

**AN:** Ya know, I was pretty concerned about how my decision to bring in Hagoromo would go over with you all. Like, I was genuinely worried it would be too far out of left field or too much Naruto for you all.

I was clearly very wrong.

In fact, A LOT of you were actually pretty happy to have the Sage come in.

That said, there was a slew of questions that followed so let's get to em.

Questions/Comments/Concerns

**Q:** Is Naruto not getting his Six Paths Sage Mode?

**A:** Honestly? Probably not. Logically speaking, Hagoromo was the one who gave that power to Naruto and as previously stated, since the Rikudō was something akin to a mere echo of his true self, his actual soul presumably having gone onto the Pure Land (Shinobi world Afterlife), he would not have been able to gift him with said powers.

Speaking as the author, I've already said that Naruto being a Jinchūriki, even without full merge, is outlandishly stronger than most of what we've seen from Remnant, possibly bar the Maidens, that Old Guy, and Salem...possibly. So to give him the power that could well rival that of a god, it'd be unfair. I doubt RWBY will ever reach planet buster levels, and that's what Naruto becomes.

HOWEVER, there is a power up I will give him...somewhat. Refer back to what was said last chapter.

**Q/C/C:** my whole wanting Cinder to be an anti hero theory thing.

**A:** I admit, this is more of my own theory and my wanting this to be the case. I WANT Cinder and Salem to have some motive aside from "DEATH TO HOOMANS." I want it because I have faith that Monty, having apparently laid out the foundations for NINE volumes of this, wouldn't resort to such a simple and cliché theme.

Monty had shit planned since day one. Having recently rewatched RWBY, there was so much foreshadowing regarding Pyrrha, Ruby and her silver eyes (First episode Ozpin literally says "You have silver eyes"!), and EVERYTHING. Monty did not do anything without a reason. Kudos to Miles and Kerry for keeping it going, but I wouldn't doubt they're just adding the flesh to the already meaty skeleton Monty had written out.

Will Cinder end up with Naruto? At this point, she's like 98% likely out of the running, Yang having taken her spot.

But, we'll have to see what Monty, Miles, and Kerry have planned for us with the series.

On another note, Dissenter, my bad, didn't mean to outright ignore your review like that. I did read it, like I do all of them, but I also have terrible memory. Anyways, reread it and while your theory on the pairing has some merit, you're not the first to point it out. I have said before, the pairing isn't at the forefront of my writing process, I'm just sort of letting it happen as it happens. If you wanna talk more about it, feel free to pm me!

Also to Kaijukage, I really don't have a problem with Penny. My best friend is an ardent fan of her and Nora, but I'm just really kind of...eh to her. I never meant to make it seem like Naruto was disgusted by Penny, more put off and, looking back, I'd say that came across well enough. Kurama seemed somewhat more disgusted, but Naruto was more apathetic and interested in why Penny seemed off to him.

Anyways!

This will be the conclusion of my little Konoha arc, so let's get to it!

* * *

"You know, seeing as how this is a forest and all, I don't get how your ancestor thought his hint was helpful," Ren remarked tiredly.

And rightly so. The now joined up team NNPR had spent the better part of their morning scouring the wilds in search of Konoha with no more success than they had in previous days.

Luckily for them, they were able to wander around in relative peace thanks to the others of their group being otherwise occupied.

Jaune had been tasked with helping some of the local farmers with their crops and such while the professors were attempting to narrow the search area by investigating local rumors and such. Meanwhile, Neo had been put on guard duty with Aria, something that was clearly not as enjoyable for the shorter of the two as it was for the elder Huntress.

"Well it kind of is. The forests around Konoha were a lot more dense than this, and we had plenty of waterfalls and stuff around," Naruto explained, though a hint of frustration was beginning to creep into his voice.

Pyrrha frowned worriedly, deciding to voice her own concerns, "But Naruto, that was during your time. A lot has happened between then and now, there's no way the terrain could be the same as it was."

Sighing, Naruto agreed, "I know, but there has to be a reason the old Sage said that. He wouldn't just throw it out there for no reason."

Placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, Pyrrha offered what comfort she could, "And you're right about that. From what you've said, he doesn't seem like the type of person to just casually throw something like that out there for no reason. We'll figure it out, together."

Smiling warmly at the redhead, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, you're right Pyrrha-chan."

"What if the hint means that the trees are supposed to tell us where to go?" Nora suddenly asked out of the blue.

Naruto seemed ready to turn down the idea, when suddenly, something hit him, "Kurama? Old Man Sage knew I could use Senjutsu right?"

The Bijū frowned in thought, "More than likely. He was a Sage himself and I have no doubt that even his echo, with as limited of an awareness as it had, would still be more than capable of sensing such a thing. Plus, you are of his blood, it'd be expected of you."

Frowning in thought, Naruto decided to follow his hunch. Placing a hand on a nearby tree, the blond Uzumaki closed his eyes, and became eerily still.

At first, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha were content and curious enough to simply watch and wonder what their captain was doing. However, when his breathing seemed to all but come to a stop, coming in nearly imperceptible shifts, they began to grow slightly worried.

They'd seen Naruto meditate before, he did it often enough to properly control the apparently massive reserves of chakra he had, but they had never seen him so at peace and so still. If he wasn't still standing, they might've begun to worry that he'd died.

Suddenly, without any sort of warning, Naruto was gone in a blur of motion, almost literally disappearing in the blink of an eye. Caught completely off guard by the burst of speed, the rest of team NNPR could only stand and stare in shock.

"Knew he would do something dumb like this," Kurama groused. Stretching, the Kyūbi turned his crimson gaze to the teens and nodded his head in the direction Naruto had gone in, "Try and keep up."

Shaking off their stupor, the teens broke into a dead sprint, trailing behind the speedy little Bijū in disguise.

For a few grueling minutes, the three teens were yet again forced to test the limits of their speed and stamina, Kurama, despite his small size, easily keeping ahead of them with zero effort despite their best efforts to catch up.

Trees, boulders, small bodies of water, and even Grimm were sped past as the group of four traversed the wilds of uncharted land, following after the trail of their blond captain. With Naruto being their main concern, the three were oblivious to how much ground they were covering and how far into the forests they were heading.

Thankfully for them, they eventually spotted the bright sunny blond locks of their captain, said blond seated atop what looked to be some sort of stone surface. Pushing that thought to the back of their mind, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha rushed to join Naruto.

None of them were prepared for what lay before them.

As the three set foot on the same stone surface that Naruto was seated on, they found themselves at a loss for words.

Stretching far out below them were the dilapidated buildings, vine covered monuments, and remains of what could only be the home of their friend, Konohagakure no Sato, the famed Village Hidden in the Leaves.

As devastated as Uzushio was, it had been preserved thanks to its isolated location as well as the numerous barriers and such that kept it safe.

Konoha was not so lucky.

The shifting of the land as well as the grips of time and age had devastated the once great Shinobi village. Where once stood homes and shops were now great trees of a verdant green. Towering warehouses and such were split in twine by the very earth itself. At the heart of the village a once great tower stood, now covered in sprouting trees and vines, chunks of the structure missing, exposing its insides to the elements.

Even with Nature having moved to bring Konoha back into its fold, it was painful to see that not all of the damage done to the village had been wrought by the hand of time and the elements. Millennia had passed and, even then, it was easy to see that a great battle had scarred not just the village, but the very earth itself.

Patches of land where not a single piece of greenery grew, where only barren earth and rubble lay. Something, or more accurately, someone had brought true devastation down upon Konoha and her people.

It was an odd mixture of beauty and horror, a vestige of the past, no doubt capable of revealing a great many secrets or yielding years of historical knowledge and such. And yet it was also a grave reminder of just what that time in human history had been like.

Uzushio had been destroyed long before Naruto was even born, making it that much harder to grasp the pain and strife that were the end result of its siege.

Konoha, however, was ground zero for what was almost the apocalypse, the great blank spot in Remnant's history books, the near end of humanity, and the very real end of the shinobi, a people who had been gifted with a power that allowed them to defy the very laws of nature and do the impossible.

Most importantly though, Konoha was Naruto's home. He had been born in this very village. He had made friendships and even deeper bonds of love within the walls of this place. The teachings of Konoha and its Hokage had been so ingrained in him that they had become his personal creed and moral compass.

So it was with understanding that Pyrrha watched her captain, her partner, her friend, silently shed tears of untold grief. There was no words she could possibly say that would or could possibly make him feel better. So, she settled for the next best thing. Without a word, the redhead got to her knees behind the grief stricken blond, draped her arms around his neck, and rested her chin on his shoulder.

Naruto made no move to argue with the gesture, instead allowing the tears to come even more freely.

Knowing just how much this hurt his container, Kurama just as silently offered his own solace, seating himself on Naruto's lap and curling into a ball.

Nora and Ren tried to do what they could as well, each taking up either side of their friend and captain, hoping their silent way of conveying their support for him came across as strongly as they wanted it to.

Minutes passed, none of the five making so much as a sound or a move, their eyes surveying the remains of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

As the sun reached the apex of its journey across the sky, the group and the village were bathed in its bright rays. While team NNPR didn't exactly take notice of the sun's position, they were able to see what the effects of it were.

All at once, the shell of a village and the forest seemed to come to life, a cooling breeze rushing through the area, gently ruffling the greenery and stirring a wave of emotions within Naruto.

Drying his eyes, the Shinobi turned Huntsman smiled ruefully, "This was my favorite spot in the entire village. I used to spend hours just sitting here, thinking about whatever was on my mind or just watching the sunset. Sometimes I'd feel like the past Hokage were here too, helping me out in their own way."

Remembering when Naruto had told her about his favorite spot, Pyrrha suddenly realized just what they were on top of, "This is the Hokage Monument."

"This is the thing you painted graffiti on?" Nora questioned, now understanding just why Naruto had been particularly proud of that escapade. They were seated on what appeared to be a literal mountain!

Chuckling, Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah, this is it."

Turning somewhat somber, he rose to his feet slowly and walked to the edge, using chakra to stick to the surface. It was with a genuine frown that he saw that the once proud and strong visages of the Leaf's past leaders had suffered just as their village had, hardly even resembling what they once were.

"Well, at least it used to be," Naruto added, touching the spot where he knew his father's likeness had been. He had spent literal hours atop this mountain, so of course he knew it pretty well. Even now, in its fallen state, he could still see the ghostly image of what it once was as clear as day.

It really drove home just how much damage had been done to the village. Even when Pein had attacked and literally erased the village, the Hokage Rock had stood, a show of the village's unyielding fire. Not even Kurama had managed to damage the mountain in his brief rampage.

And now it lay in shambles, mirroring the state of his home.

Walking back to stand with his team, Naruto sighed, "I'll send a clone back to the village and have it lead the others here. It'll take them awhile to get here so in the meantime I wanna see if some things made it."

"Anything in particular we should keep an eye out for?" Ren asked, knowing that this entire place held a very special place in his friend's heart and memories.

"Not really. Other than a few sentimental things, the only thing I want to keep away from anyone is the Fūin no Shō. I doubt anyone could do anything with the jutsu in it, but I'd rather not take the chance," Naruto answered.

"The knowledge of jutsu like the Hakke no Fūin Shiki _(Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)_, Kage Bunshin, and the countless others in it is not something that this day and age need knowledge of," Kurama agreed.

While the demise of the Shinobi era was a hard pill to swallow, there was some good to have come from it. Namely the loss such things as the Sharingan and the dōjutsu's Curse of Hatred, the everyday bloodshed between shinobi over petty matters, the need for Jinchūriki, and especially that foul Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei _(Summoning: Impure World Resurrection)_.

A technique that defiled the souls of the deceased by forcibly bringing them back to the living world through the sacrifice of another living human was vile and should have never been made in Kurama's opinion. Thankfully it's only known users, Tobirama Senju - the Nidaime Hokage _(Second Hokage) _and the jutsu's creator - and that foul snake, Orochimaru, were long dead, leaving the Scroll of Seals as the only way to access any kind of knowledge about the jutsu.

If the scroll had made it through the ages, then it would be best for the entire world if it was kept under lock and key by his Jinchūriki , hopefully to never see the light of day again. That said, there might still be some useful techniques kept in the Fūin no Sho that would be useful to add to Naruto's arsenal.

Wordlessly and without need for the handseal, Naruto created a Shadow Clone. Already knowing its orders, the clone sped off back in the direction of the village.

With that done, team NNPR began their descent down the mountain side, using the various outcroppings as footholds. Well, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren did. Naruto used chakra to casually walk down the monument.

Regrouping at the foot of the monument, the group set out, Naruto leading the way. Even with the village now in shambles, the blond was still able to easily navigate the broken streets with practiced ease, having spent near his entire life exploring every nook and cranny of his home out of both necessity and boredom.

Arriving at what had once been the main market place, Naruto made a beeline for a very specific shop.

Blue orbs sadly looked upon the broken building that had once been among his most visited spots in the village, a place where a certain father and daughter had offered him free food and shelter an innumerable amount of times. Aside from the elderly Sandaime, the two had been among the very few whom he knew had been in his corner from day one.

While most of the eateries around the village had shown him disdain for what he was, the father and daughter duo had been the only ones to welcome him into their restaurant with a smile and a warmth he had been unfamiliar with at that time.

Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku had welcomed him not only into their ramen stand, but their family as well.

Ayame had been the sweet, caring elder sister figure in his life, always pushing him to better himself and never shying away from displays of affection.

Teuchi was one his earliest male role models, offering advice where he could and never afraid to stand up for Naruto when he had to.

Many a shinobi and villager alike had been threatened with the ramen chef's impressive set of knives when they made the dumb decision and bad mouthed the blond anywhere in the vicinity of his ramen stand.

Stepping over the fallen rubble, Naruto trailed his hand along the broken and rusted counter, a wave of memories washing over him.

"Arigatou Teuchi-ojisan, Ayame-neechan, for all that you did for me. No place could ever make ramen like you guys did. I'll miss you," Naruto murmured to himself, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

Despite the quiet way it was said, the others still managed to make it out perfectly clear.

Pyrrha mentally resolved to ask about it later, holding her tongue for now as she realized that Naruto was saying his goodbyes, something he had never been able to do till now.

Wiping away the tear, Naruto continued on, heading straight for the Hokage Tower.

Arriving at the base of the tower, the blond led the group up the winding staircase, or what remained of it. Rotted wood, a result of being exposed to the elements, had caused the stairwell to collapse in on itself in most places. Even some of the still standing sections were in much the same state, falling away under the slightest movement.

Still, the group managed to make their way to their goal, the Hokage's office.

Stepping over the fallen doors, the teens were greeted by the branches of a tree that had sprouted several floors below. What was left of the office were scattered books and scrolls, most in very poor condition. No doubt they would fade to dust if touched.

Something however caught Nora's eye. Stepping over some rubble, the orange haired hammer wielder picked up the interesting item, blowing layers of dust off of it.

"What's this?"

Seeing what Nora held in her hands, Naruto smiled sadly, gently taking the torn and heavily damaged accessory, "This was the Hokage's hat. Tsunade-baachan never really liked wearing it or the robes, but it was pretty much all Jiji wore. I always told him and Tsunade-baachan that one day I'd be the one wearing it instead of them."

Struck by a sudden realization, Naruto began to laugh, throwing the others off.

"Ar-Are you ok Naruto?" Pyrrha asked unsurely.

Realizing that he was probably freaking his teammates out, the whiskered teen explained, "I just realized, I never made it passed Genin."

Seeing the confused looks, Kurama explained, "In the shinobi system, there were three main ranks. Genin was the lowest rank."

"WHAT!?" the rest of team NNPR collectively shouted.

No one could blame them for their surprise either. They had seen firsthand just how powerful Naruto was and had heard the stories of the amazingly strong opponents he had defeated. While they knew he obviously hadn't achieved his dream of leading his village, they figured he had at least been pretty high up in the ranks.

But to be the lowest rank possible? That just didn't add up!

Understanding why they were shocked, Naruto shrugged, "Well the first time I took the Chunin exams, I wasn't exactly...the smartest or anything. Plus I left pretty quickly after the whole invasion thing to find Tsunade-baachan so she could become the Godaime. Then I left on a three year training trip with Ero-Sennin to train and explore the world. Because we were always on the move, I missed the following Chunin Exams. When I got back, Akatsuki became more active. Then I left again to get my Sage training. Pretty much, there was just so much going on, it kind of slipped everyone's mind that I was the only one from my graduating class that was still a genin."

Pyrrha shook her head with a quiet laugh, Ren simply sighed, and Nora cracked a grin as she giggled. At this point in their friendship with the temporally displaced shinobi, none of them could find it in themselves to do much else, having learned to accept the fact that the whiskered teen was one surprise after another.

"So if it were here, where would the scroll be?" Ren asked, deciding it was best to move on to their goal.

Scratching his chin, Naruto thought aloud, "Well, after I stole it, Jiji thought it'd be best he kept it in here with him and knowing Tsunade-baachan-"

"Hold on, you STOLE the scroll?" Ren asked, halfway between incredulity and exasperation.

Realizing that he had never told his team just how he had become a genin, Naruto chuckled uneasily, "Heh, never told you guys that story, huh?"

Chuckling, Pyrrha shook her head, "No, but you may as well now."

"Well, I actually failed my genin exam...a third time. My sensei at the time, some teme who hated me for being Kurama's Jinchūriki, tricked me into thinking that if I stole the scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I'd be able to graduate anyways. Dumb me listened to him and well, I did it," Naruto explained.

Deciding to ask about the whole "failing for a third time" thing at a later time, Pyrrha inquired, "Wait, if he used you to steal it, wouldn't he have tried to take it from you or something?"

Sighing, the blond nodded, "He was going to kill me and then leave the village with the scroll." Before the others could voice their opinions on his traitorous sensei, Naruto continued, "But, lucky for me, my other sensei, Iruka, got to me first. Long story short, Iruka defended me and when Mizuki threatened to kill him, I jumped in and used the jutsu I had learned from the scroll to kick his ass. Iruka-sensei and Sarutobi-jiji decided that my 'Helping to stop the attempted theft of one of the village's most treasured items as well as helping to apprehend the traitor' was reason enough to make me a genin."

Furrowing his brow in thought, Ren asked, "Wait, isn't the scroll supposed to contain a bunch of dangerous and forbidden jutsu? What jutsu did you learn from it?"

Grinning cheekily, Naruto answered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

"What!?" The three exclaimed in shock.

Having used and abused the technique since literally day one of his shinobi career, Naruto shrugged, "Well, yeah. The reason the clones are solid and can move and act on their own is because I'm actually dividing up my chakra to create them. Plus when they pop, I get any information they learned. If you make too many, you could accidentally use up all your chakra and die. Or if you dispel too many at once, the huge rush of info could turn your brain to mush."

"And you use it so carelessly?" Pyrrha cried in worry. While Naruto had previously explained the benefits of the jutsu, she had thought there had to be some sort of catch to it, otherwise it would far too broken of a technique. Now, finding out just what those repercussions and dangers were, the redhead was extremely worried about the fine line the blond seemed to be dancing when he used the jutsu.

Realizing how bad he had made his signature jutsu sound, Naruto quickly explained, "But I don't have to worry about any of that!" Seeing the incredulous stares, the Jinchūriki explained, "Since I'm part Uzumaki, I inherited my clan's naturally potent chakra. Plus I constantly have Kurama's chakra being filtered into me. Even as a kid, I had way more chakra than most adults. I've made hundreds of clones before and felt barely a drop in my chakra."

"As for the danger of information overload, brat also has me to thank for that. If he passes a certain threshold, I can and have helped to organize the information and block out anything unnecessary," Kurama groused.

After a moment of silence, Ren sighed, "I can see why people called you 'The Most Surprising Shinobi'."

Naruto could only grin cheekily.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Pyrrha decided to refocus on their task, "After you stole it, do you know where the scroll was moved to?"

Naruto scratched at his chin in thought, "Well like I was saying, I doubt Tsunade-baachan would've bothered to move it since I was the only person who ever really tried to take it. And knowing Jiji, there's only one place where he would hide stuff he didn't want me to find."

Moving over to the right side of the room, the blond moved away the remains of a couch. Knocking on the floor in a few spots, the whiskered teen grinned as he pulled up a loose floorboard. However, instead of there being some hidden space, there was just the support materials that crossed under each floor of the building.

Still grinning, Naruto flipped the board over to reveal what the group had come to recognize as a sealing array.

"I'm afraid to ask how you knew about that," Ren sighed.

"I spent a lot of time snooping in this office. It's how I knew Tsunade-baachan would stash her alcohol in a seal underneath the top right drawer of her desk and that Jiji would hide his copies of Icha Icha in a seal on the left drawer."

"What's Icha Icha?" Nora asked, just as confused as the others.

Remembering he had only told Blake about Jiraiya's…"novels", Naruto nervously began to chuckle, "I'll tell you guys some other time."

Peering at the seal, the half blood Uzumaki began to decode the intricate array. He doubted the Sandaime would seal away the village's prized scroll with a seal that could be unlocked by simply funneling chakra through it. But, he also wouldn't have used a blood seal as that would mean only members of the Sarutobi clan would be able to unlock it, barring any future Hokage from getting to it should the need arise.

Frowning in thought, Naruto began to remember why the old Kage had been hailed as The Professor.

The student of both the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage, titans in their own right, Hiruzen Sarutobi was a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the battlefield. He had been the one to lead Konoha through not one, but two of the three Great Shinobi Wars as its Hokage. Heck, it had been during the First Shinobi World War that he had been made Sandaime by the Nidaime.

After the untimely death of his father as the Yondaime, the reason Hiruzen had been able to reclaim his seat as Hokage was, because there was no one in the village aside from Jiraiya capable of filling that roll. Even in his old age, the Sandaime was still far stronger than most any shinobi in Konoha, a vast library of jutsu at his hands and the wisdom and knowledge to put those techniques to devastating use.

Despite not being as versed in the arts of Fūinjutsu as his student, Jiraiya, or having the proclivity to them like an Uzumaki, Hiruzen had managed to make an elegant and airtight sealing array.

The seal not only had a specific "key" needed to unlock it, but it also had a fail-safe designed into it. If any one tried to overload it by flooding it with chakra, the seal would disintegrate, taking its contents with it.

Luckily for Naruto, he was the son of not one, but two renowned masters of the sealing arts and had also studied under yet another master.

Pushing chakra into his fingertip, the blond teen traced a specific pattern into the seal, one he was all too familiar with, and in a poof of smoke, a scroll that came up to his chest popped into existence.

Staring fondly at the massive scroll, Naruto chuckled, "I remember when this was almost as big as me."

Snickering, Nora taunted, "Jeez Whiskers, you were a shrimp!"

Naruto huffed indignantly, "Hey! I just hadn't hit my growth spurts yet, alright!?"

"No, you were a midget, because your diet consisted almost entirely of ramen," Kurama snarked.

"Whatever! Let's just get this scroll sealed up before the others show up," the blond pouted.

The others simply chuckled at the childish reaction their captain had to his previous stature. Still it was a little hard to believe considering he now easily matched Pyrrha's impressive six foot height. Those growth spurts really had hit pretty hard.

"Is there anything else you wanted to do before the rest of our group got here?" Pyrrha asked, slightly excited to explore the village. Despite its less than stellar condition, it was still the place her closest friend had been born and raised in. She couldn't wait to hear the no doubt countless stories Naruto had to share.

The Jinchūriki hummed in thought, "There's a few places I'd like to see one more time, but nothing that we have to be cautious about. Besides, Professor Oobleck would probably appreciate me explaining some of it to him."

Raising a brow, Ren asked, "You're not worried about Jaune or Professor Panathenaia getting suspicious and asking questions?"

Naruto shook his head, "Nah, I already got a believable enough backstory for why I would know about Konoha."

"Parents' diary?" Ren asked, recalling the lie the blond had used to fool the suspicious language and strategy professor before.

"Worked before, it'll probably work again," Naruto shrugged.

Nodding, team NNPR began to make their way out of the tower, cautiously retracing their steps to avoid falling the rest of the way down.

"THIS IS ASTOUNDING! AN ENTIRE VILLAGE LEFTOVER FROM BEFORE RECORDED HISTORY!"

Their exiting the tower was apparently perfectly timed as the team of four was met by the astounded faces of the rest of their group. Oobleck, who had been the one to shout, was racing around the village, frantically typing away at the digital scroll in his hands and taking several snapshots as well.

"I have to agree with Professor Oobleck, this is a monumental historical find. We already knew about Uzushio and were simply working on decoding its secrets, but this is a completely new and never before touched territory. I wonder what this village was called?" Panathenaia wondered, her inner history buff itching to be released.

"Konohagakure no Sato," Naruto answered.

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves...fitting. If this was truly one of the long lost shinobi villages, they would've no doubt relied on the thick forestry as a natural defense," the brunette professor agreed. Turning her focus to the teen who had answered her question, the bespectacled woman asked, "May I ask how you know this was Konoha?"

Naruto shrugged, "My mom's family was from Uzushio. My father's were all native to Konoha."

Olive frowned in thought, "Then it is safe to say that you can easily trace your heritage back to the people of this time, the shinobi."

Naruto simply nodded.

"Why then have none of your family ever come forth with this knowledge? It would've no doubt made them extremely wealthy and well known as well as helping the historic community learn more about the time before Huntsmen and Grimm," Olive questioned.

"We all thought it was just a bunch of fairy tales and myths. None of us could've guessed it was real. Heck, I never thought I'd get to step foot on Uzushio, let alone find out that Konoha is real as well," Naruto argued back.

Olive seemed ready to continue her interrogation, but after a moment, dropped it altogether and accepted the answer.

"If those stories are true after all, you no doubt have some very intimate knowledge about this place and its history, correct!?" Oobleck asked, suddenly invading the whiskered blond's personal space bubble.

Caught off guard, Naruto nervously backed up and answered, "Uh, yeah I do. This tower here was home to the village's leader, the Hokage."

The blond former shinobi went on to explain some of Konoha's most prominent features such as Hokage Rock, the Academy, the Clan District as well as the various compounds in it, and even the market district. Oobleck and Olive were all too happy to jot down the given information as well as taking any sample they could get their hands on.

Neo, while somewhat intrigued by the relic of a village, was more apathetic. Cinder would more than likely want to know as much as she could about this village as well, but her boss would no doubt have some way to get that information out of Naruto herself.

Jaune was actually stunned by Konoha and all its wonder, but was just as interested in the info his fellow blond seemed to have on the apparent home of his ancestors, mentally filing away what he could to report to Ironwood when he got back.

Having learned what they could, and with the sun still high in the sky, the group splintered apart to do their own exploration with a promise to meet back at the tower at sunset.

Taking the chance given to them, team NNPR followed after their captain who had one last spot he wanted to visit, a place Naruto's jounin sensei, Kakashi, had spent a lot of time at, the Memorial Stone.

Naruto was surprised to find it still standing, somewhat. A large chunk of the kunai shaped structure was missing, but considering the literal war that was being waged during Naruto's forced departure, it was shocking to see it still standing at all.

Tracing his fingers across the numerous names carved into the black stone memorial, the Konoha native had to use all of his will power to not let even more tears spill. The number of names had increased since the last time he had seen it. What made it even harder on him was that he recognized some of the names that had been added.

"This is a memorial, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked softly.

Naruto nodded, unable to form the proper words.

Gathering himself as best he could, the blond rose to his feet, "We should get going now if we want to get back to the village before dark."

Silently nodding, the solemn team followed after their friend, finding no words to say yet again.

* * *

"Today was a monumental day for the historical community and it is only the tip of the iceberg," Olive informed, speaking to the teens gathered before her.

"Yes! We were, but a recon team! Our success here is simply the beginning as more excursions to Konoha and its surroundings will no doubt follow in the coming months as we discover more and more of our bloody past!" Oobleck added.

"I'm surprised you lot managed to find anything out there in the first place," Grey interjected.

"I just hope we don't become some sort of tourist attraction," Marcus groused.

Aria was having none of it, "Oh come on Mr. Grumpy Pants! Even you have to admit this is pretty cool! A whole village from the time before even Grimm!"

While the others had their moment of celebration, team NNPR couldn't find it in themselves to join them.

Without a word to anyone, Naruto suddenly up and left, Pyrrha quickly following after him.

* * *

"Want to talk about it?" Pyrrha asked, joining Naruto on a tree branch high enough up in the canopy to get a great view of the surrounding forests illuminated by the moon.

"I...I don't know if I can," Naruto admitted.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Pyrrha consoled. After a few moments of silence, the redheaded beauty spoke up, "Do you remember initiation?"

Raising a brow, Naruto answered, "Well, yeah, it hasn't been that long."

Smiling, Pyrrha nodded as she gazed out at the moonlit forest, "I know. Do you remember when I asked about your home?"

Still slightly ashamed for having partially lied to the person who was now one of his closest friends, the blond Jinchūriki nodded, "Yeah, I told you that Konoha had been overrun by Grimm."

"You did," Pyrrha agreed, still smiling. Turning her gaze to her confused friend, the young teen continued, "And do you remember what I told you after?"

Realizing what she was getting at, Naruto genuinely smiled, "Yeah, you said you'd be there for me whenever I needed you."

Laying her head on her not so secret crush's shoulder, Pyrrha closed her eyes and hummed in agreement, "And I always will be. But I'm not the only one. Ren, Nora, Ruby, Yang, Blake, and even Weiss care about you. We all do. And just like you go out of your way to help us, we're going to try our best to help you."

Again Naruto was reminded of how different the relationships he had now were from the ones he had during his younger years. The friendship and sense of closeness he shared with his team and team RWBY were the sort of things he had yearned for as a lonely child and even as a teenager.

While he had a special sort of bond with Sasuke and Sakura, they had never been so ready to openly admit just how close they were, it was a sort of unspoken thing. His friendship with the rest of his graduating class was even less intimate than that.

Here though, no one, aside from Weiss, really had any issue with showing or even telling him just how much they cared for him.

It was a pretty stark contrast, but one that he wasn't really complaining about.

"Thanks Pyrrha-chan," Naruto softly responded, feeling for once like he had found where he truly belonged and he'd be damned before he let anything threaten that.

"...you think Beacon is still standing?"

"I hope so…"

* * *

**AN:** FUCKING FINALLY. Jesus fucking christ. Never have I disliked myself for being so damn long winded as much as I did while working on this chapter. So many sections and different scenarios were entirely scrapped just cause they went fucking nowhere.

Anyways, like I said, this is the last chapter of my little off shoot arc. Next chapter will be partially to wrap things up with the arc and then it's off into the some crazy other crap!

I'll probably still be working on that chapter by the time I leave for RTX, so I'm gonna be using the plane ride to get the writing done so hopefully by the end of RTX, I'll have the next chapter out as well.

That said, I CANT FUCKING WAIT. If anyone else is heading out to RTX, feel free to hit me up! Would love to meet some fellow RT nerds! I'll probably be heavily drinking and making a general fool of myself, but yay vacation!

I've not much else to say sooooooooooooooooo

PEACE OUT


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:** I feel like the entire Konoha arc was a huge question mark for me, at least in regards to what I had happen. I know the lot of you had really grown to enjoy the way I've blended the two worlds and all, so I wasn't too sure how you'd all react to me bringing in such huge elements of Naruto into this. Uzushio was sort of like this, but with as little as we know about it, it gave me more freedom to do with what I wanted. Konoha and all of this has a much more established mythos to it.

But, according to you guys, I didn't do too shabby! It was great to see that you all managed to grasp the sort of trauma and hurt Naruto felt at seeing his home in ruins, as well as the reminders of his friends and such.

There were a lot more places and things I could've put in (Forest of Death, Chunin Exam Arena, the Academy, etc.) but I felt that I had already used enough to get my point across.

Not only that, but like Oobleck said, they were merely a recon team. Even more to that end though, I may have said that that was the end of the Konoha arc, but I never said that would be the last we'd see or hear of it, wink wink.

Now, there weren't too many questions or anything, at least not enough to really need the little Q and A section I usually do, so we'll be skipping that this time around.

However, there was one concern that a small handful of people actually mentioned, enough that I'll just go ahead and answer that instead.

The concern? Naruto's knowledge of seals.

A few of you pointed out in various ways how his knowledge of Fuinjutsu seemed both farfetched and a little out of character. Now, I never really out right said this myself, a reviewer did quite a number of chapters ago, but I'll say it now: I have not messed with the original events of canon Naruto leading up to his battle with Pein...FOR THE MOST PART.

The biggest change I've made to the Naruto canon is pretty damn obvious at this point. But, I did change a few small things within the canon storyline as well, things to better fit what I wanted to happen. One of those things being a more mature mindset, one that allowed him to really take to the art that had made both his father and his mother's family infamous/famous.

By now, I would've figured that all of you realized that this was the case. However there is also something I've only ever briefly mentioned and hinted at in the story, something pretty significant.

Since I'm revealing stuff, I'll point this out as well since it also ties into this topic.

Naruto was on Remnant for a few months to possibly a year well before he decided to head to Beacon at the start of this story.

What was he up to during that time? What ramifications did that lead to?

Well, you've all already seen some of the benefits of that being the case, but more will be revealed as we go along here.

Now! Let's get a move on to the actual story!

* * *

Ruby awoke with a yawn, stretching her limbs and shaking off the vestiges of a good night's sleep. Blearily blinking her silver orbs, the young teen happily realized that it was a Saturday, meaning that she didn't have any classes to attend. Even better, she had already finished any homework that needed to be done.

'_Perfect! More sleep for me!' _the captain of team RWBY mentally cheered.

Turning over and snuggling back into her blankets, Ruby was more than ready to fall back into the realm of Morpheus.

The world would not give her that pleasure though.

"Ruby! Wakey wakey!" a boisterous voice called out.

Recognizing the voice, Ruby groaned, "Yaaanng! I was just about to go back to sleep!"

Mischievously grinning, the older sibling quickly yanked away her younger sister's blanket, exposing the pajama clad teen to the chill of the early morning, "But guess who's on his way back!"

Grumpily rising from her comfortable bed and slipping off of it to the floor, Ruby scratched at her messy head of red and black hair, "Who?"

"Naruto is on his way back," another voice softly intoned. Blake, dressed in her usual clothing, turned her gaze from her young captain to the busty blonde of the team, "But he won't be here for another hour or so, which is why I told Yang to let you sleep."

Crossing her arms underneath her bust, the lilac eyed teen shrugged, "I told ya Blake, it's fine! We used to do this all the time back home!"

Ruby sighed, "She's right. Thankfully this time she didn't use a bucket of ice water though."

"I, for one think it's a good thing Yang woke you up," Weiss interjected from her spot on her bed.

"See! Someone gets it!" Yang grinned.

Ignoring her partner, Blake gave the Schnee heiress a deadpan stare, "You just want to see what condition Naruto is in so you can find out if you won our bet."

Huffing, the white haired heiress attempted to cover herself, "W-What? No! I'm just concerned for the well being of a fellow student is all."

"Riiiiigghhtt," Ruby nodded, clearly not at all buying into Weiss' poorly attempted lie. In fact, Yang and Blake were mirroring their younger captain's actions, just as easily able to see through the Schnee heiress' ploy.

* * *

"So, that blond idiot is coming back today?" Emerald groused. The mint haired teen just couldn't fathom why Cinder was so wrapped up in her attempts to recruit a certain whiskered blond. To her, he was just like the rest of the kids that attended Beacon - blind to the harsh realities of the world, too naive for his own good, and far too annoying for what Cinder was attempting. It was baffling really.

Mercury merely shrugged, "Apparently." Seeing the irritated frown on his partner's face, the silver haired teen grinned, "Aww, are you jealous Cinder's been paying more attention to him? Feeling left out?"

Snarling, the mocha skinned teen lashed out with a swing, Mercury just dodging out of the way, "Oh would you shut your stupid trap? You're starting to irritate the crap out of me already!"

Still smirking, Mercury chuckled, "Someone's got anger issues."

Before the two could further their spat, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of their boss, "Enough. We have the things we need to take care of before Naruto arrives."

Frowning, Emerald asked, "What do you mean? We're not throwing some party for him are we?"

Cinder raised a brow at the hostile tone, but decided to ignore it, "No. But, I would like to have certain...items ready for our chat later, items I'll need you two to retrieve for me."

"Whatever you need," Emerald quickly replied.

Mercury went with a simple nod.

Cinder smirked, "Don't disappoint me."

* * *

On a Bullhead flying through the clear skies, Naruto suddenly felt a shiver run through his body, seemingly for no reason.

Feeling the slight twitch from her position, her head comfortably laid on Naruto's shoulder, Pyrrha turned a curious set of emeralds to her friend, "Something wrong?"

Scratching his cheek as he stared into space, Naruto admitted, "No, but for some reason I feel like I'm not going to get an sort of rest when we get back to Beacon."

Across from the pair, Nora was happily snoring away on an unfazed Ren who quirked a brow, "I feel like that shouldn't be anything unusual for you."

Naruto sighed sadly, "Yeah, I know. I should probably just be used to it by now."

On the other side of Pyrrha, Jaune decided to throw in his two cents, "I've only known you guys for a couple of weeks and it definitely seems like you guys are usually getting into some pretty crazy stuff."

"Says the guy who was practically hounded by Grimm the whole time we were on our mission," Naruto shot back childishly.

Giggling softly, Pyrrha lightly slapped Naruto on the arm, "Hey, be nice, it's not like he could help it."

"Yeah! There was something seriously weird going on there!" Jaune said, attempting to defend himself.

Both Neo and Naruto shared a quick look, both having to resist the urge to laugh or smirk. While it was somewhat cruel to have messed with the blond Atlesian the way they had, neither felt any sort of remorse. Nobody had been hurt at all and it had kept the snooping teen off his case, so Naruto wasn't at all sorry, seeing it as a good use of a prank.

Neo had simply enjoyed messing with the guy, no two ways about it.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," Jaune continued. Seeing he had the attention of the conscious members of team NNPR, the blond gestured at Naruto and Pyrrha, "Are you two a couple or something?"

It took a moment for everyone to register the question, but when it finally clicked, Pyrrha was quick to sit up straight with a blush staining her cheek, "W-What!? No! Not at all!"

Naruto was meanwhile blushing up his own storm.

Ren however cracked a grin. Call him biased, but he sincerely wished to see his two teammates end up together. Despite his usually indifferent attitude to such things, just like everyone else, he could clearly see the strong bond between the two. These days it was rather rare to see one without the other.

Don't get him wrong, he thought Blake was a wonderful girl and Yang was unique and great in her own way, but he personally agreed with Nora. Naruto and Pyrrha seemed to just click in all the right ways.

The two were immensely strong, beyond that of most of their peers, standing head and shoulders above the crowd. They were also extremely selfless, placing the happiness of their loved ones and friends above even their own. In addition, the redhead and blond teens seemed to have the uncanny ability to bring out the best in those around them, even willing to nurture those qualities.

That wasn't to say that they didn't have their differences. Pyrrha was the near definition of patience, Naruto...was not. The Jinchūriki was also loud and outgoing. The Invincible Girl, while not at all shy, much more preferred her quiet time away from the eyes of the public.

Strong, charismatic, and always willing to help those in need, Naruto and Pyrrha were so alike, and yet drastically different as well and that was exactly why Ren hoped to see the two together, as a couple. Individually they were great, but together, they would be even better.

"Oh, you're not? It just seemed like it, with how close you guys are," Jaune shrugged.

Far too embarrassed now, the two seemed reluctant to meet the other's gaze.

Luckily for them, the voice of their pilot came from the cockpit, "Alright guys! We're all of a few minutes out from Beacon! Thanks for flying Air Nate, have a safe trip home!"

Chuckling at the man's sense of humor, the group got ready to depart, most of them eager to return to Beacon Academy and all its comforts.

* * *

"Ahhhh! Feels good to be home!" Naruto cheered.

As the rest of the group stepped off the grounded Bullhead, Naruto was suddenly tackled to the ground by a yellow blur.

"Welcome back Foxy!"

"Damnit Yang! Let me go!"

"Aww, don't you wanna play?"

"I'll show you playing!"

The others could only sweatdrop as the two blondes rolled around on the ground, attempting to subdue the other in a grapple.

"Uh, are they always like this?" Jaune sweatdropped.

Ruby shrugged, "It's how they show affection."

"That's...healthy?" Jaune replied, unsure of his own answer.

Deciding to ignore the blonde pair, Ruby turned and smiled at the rest of team NNPR, "So, how'd the mission go? Take down some super strong Grimm? Find some buried treasure?"

Pyrrha chuckled at the exuberant teen, "Not too many Grimm this time."

Jaune grumbled to himself, "I'd disagree."

"But we did find a lost village and got some other answers as well," the redhead continued.

"Speaking of, I have to go report to General Ironwood. I'll see you guys around!"

With a casual wave, the Atlesian jogged off.

"Yes! We must report back to Professor Ozpin as well! Good day children!"

And like that, the spastic green haired history professor was off in blur of movement.

Olive approached the group, visibly making an effort to avoid the rolling dust ball of a still fighting Yang and Naruto, and turned to Pyrrha, "Remember, Professor Ozpin will want to see you four for your own mission report as well."

Without a word more, the brunette was off.

The group was quiet for a moment, staring in the direction that the others had gone off in. Eventually though, Blake turned her gaze to the three members of team NNPR and asked, "So how did the mission really go?"

Ren crossed his arms, "We managed to find Naruto's home village, Konoha, hidden deep in uncharted territory. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly in the best of shape."

"How'd he take it?" A very concerned Ruby asked.

She and her team had of course been told about how the whiskered teen had reacted to finding his ancestral home in the deplorable state it was in. She could only imagine how much more it would hurt to see his actual home in a similar state.

Pyrrha frowned, "It wasn't...easy for him. You should ask him yourself if you want to really know."

Blake and Ruby nodded, understanding that whatever had happened was extremely personal and wasn't something Pyrrha was comfortable with sharing without Naruto's consent.

Nora suddenly interjected, breaking up the somewhat somber mood, "But he also got to meet his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-"

"He got to meet his ancestor," Ren interrupted, putting his hand over Nora's mouth.

"...what? How is that even possible?" A highly skeptical Weiss asked.

Blake and Ruby were just as curious to know the answer as well. Naruto himself was from a time that was, to them, countless ages old. Naruto's ancestor would logically be even older than that which would be astonishing. There should be no possible way to meet someone as ancient as that.

"Chakra and seals," Naruto interjected casually while holding a struggling Yang in a Full Nelson.

Everyone sweatdropped at the sight.

Due to their height and strength difference, the busty blonde brawler was forced to concede, "Alright Foxy, I give!"

Grinning cheekily, Naruto released his hold on his fellow blond.

Ruby, having been the unfortunate target of her sister's "games" when they were younger, cheered, "Ha! Finally someone put you in your place you bully!"

Cracking her knuckles, Yang turned on her younger sibling, "What was that Ruby?"

Realizing what she had said, the younger of the two was quick to dash and hide behind her fellow team captain, "Protect me Naruto!"

Shaking his head, the whiskered teen ignored the two in favor of explaining himself, "Well, I actually didn't know he was my ancestor until he told me himself. Thing is, he was actually one of the first natural born chakra user. He was also the one to give chakra as a gift to other people."

"Like the old man in the story of the Four Maidens," Blake interjected suddenly.

Pyrrha snapped her fingers, "That's why I thought I had heard this story before."

Quirking a brow, Naruto asked, "What're you guys talking about?"

The raven haired Faunus of team RWBY answered, "Right, you wouldn't know about the story seeing as how you weren't born in this time."

Pyrrha nodded, "The story of the Four Maidens is an old children's story that tells of how an old man, a wizard, who lived alone in the forests was visited by four maidens."

"Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall," Blake added.

"Each brought with them something to help the old wizard, doing so out of the kindness of their hearts. At the end of their stay, happier than he had been in ages and moved by the kindness of the maidens, the old wizard used his magic to gift the four with the very powers of nature, giving them the powers to help even more people on their journey," Pyrrha finished.

Scratching his chin, Naruto turned to Kurama, "You don't think?"

"It's...possible. But then, this is just a story, it could just as easily be the story of tou-sama, changed and altered due to the thousands of years that it has been retold," Kurama frowned in thought.

"Well anyways, I was able to meet the Sage, because he had a seal created that would hold a piece of his soul until I showed up to activate it," Naruto continued.

"Wait, how is that even possible? He would have been long dead by the time you were even born, let alone this far into the future," Blake pointed out.

Kurama was the one to answer, "Tou-sama was not an ordinary existence. He was far beyond what any human could ever hope to achieve. He created myself and my siblings by splitting the power of a primordial god, then created the moon to seal away the body of that same god. His chakra and soul were immensely powerful, so much so that even after death, he lingered, observing the world."

"...WHAT!?" team RWBY cried in unison.

Knowing they'd want an explanation, Naruto told them the tale of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, including the details on Kaguya and her story, while walking back to his team's dorm.

By the end of it, a stunned team RWBY sat with jaws on the floor. They had seen how strong Naruto was, and at one time they had thought that was unbelievable. To learn that there were what amounted to literal gods whom actually walked the earth at some point in time was beyond even that, leaving them dumbfounded.

Of course, following that, Naruto told them why the Sage had created the seal and why he had needed to talk to him.

"So this Kaguya chick is still around causing problems?" Yang asked, her arms crossed under her chest.

Sighing, Naruto shrugged, "We don't really know. It's been so long that there shouldn't be any way that she could still be alive. Even the old Sage had to eventually pass on and he was almost as strong as her."

"I don't think any sort of 'normal' logic works here, after all, we're talking about someone who singlehandedly brought an end to all wars with the threat of her power alone," Ren added.

"True, but from what we know, that Sasuke guy managed to weaken her to some extent. There's no way that in a weakened state she would be able to live this long," Weiss countered.

"Weakened is a relative term here. Even after she was technically dead, her power split into nine beings, and her body sealed in the moon, she was still able to orchestrate her own revival," Pyrrha answered back.

"Gah! This is such a such a huge pain to think about!" Naruto complained.

While he had an appreciation for planning ahead, he just wasn't the type to sit and do nothing. He was a man of action and as far as he was concerned, sitting around and talking about the "what if's" was getting them no closer to any sort of end plan.

Pyrrha sighed, "Naruto is right. Unfortunately we all know far too little to even begin to form any semblance of a plan. Besides that, we just got back from our mission and could use some rest."

The four members of team RWBY nodded, realizing just how tired their fellow team looked.

"See you guys in class tomorrow!" Ruby waved goodbye.

"I'll get you next time Foxy!" Yang grinned as she left.

Weiss simply left without a word, a seemingly contemplative look on her face.

Before making her own exit, Blake told Naruto softly, "When you get time, come find me."

The whiskered blond nodded, assuming the teen Faunus wanted to know more about what all had gone on during the mission.

"BED!" Nora cheered, collapsing onto her mattress.

Chuckling, Naruto called out to the orange haired teen, "Nora! You still have to shower!"

To the rest of team NNPR's amusement, a snore was the only reply the blond got, Nora having apparently already gone off to dreamland.

"Wasn't she asleep the whole ride back?" Naruto asked aloud.

"You learn to not question much with Nora after a while," Ren shrugged, already making his way to the bathroom. Opening the door, the raven haired teen frowned at the face that greeted him on the other side before calling out, "Naruto, you have a...guest."

Naruto raised a brow and turned to see a familiar set of amber of eyes gazing at him from the doorway, "Cinder?"

The raven haired woman smirked, "Neo seems to have had fun on your mission."

Understanding the underlying meaning of the otherwise casual statement, Naruto frowned, "She was a huge help on it, thanks for sending her."

"Not a problem. I was just here to ask if you were free to...talk for a bit," Cinder asked, although it came off more like a statement than her asking for anything.

Although, considering it was Cinder - a woman with looks straight out of a wet dream, a voice that was almost like sex itself, and a smoldering gaze that could stop most anyone with a heart beat - she was more than likely used to getting her way without much issue.

After a quick glance to a frowning Pyrrha, Naruto sighed before getting up, "Yeah, I got some time I guess."

After the two left the room, Ren quietly muttered, "I have a bad feeling about her."

Pyrrha nodded with a frown, "I do as well."

* * *

Naruto followed Cinder, his mind running a mile a minute as he tried to figure out just where she was taking him. While the mysterious woman hadn't exactly done anything outright to earn his ire, she had done enough to warrant his suspicions.

Although she had told him her supposed end goal, with someone like her, there was no way he could even be sure that was the truth. With the interlocking webs upon webs she had surrounding her, Naruto just had no way to gauge where he stood with her.

"I thought all you wanted was some questions answered?" Naruto asked, finally breaking up the silence.

Cinder glanced at the blond out of the corner of her eye, "I do."

"Why not start asking then?" the blond asked, frustrated with the curt reply he had got.

This of course only seemed to amuse his raven haired companion, "I will, but first, I figured we should have a little privacy considering the sensitive topic."

Naruto simply grumbled to himself. The last couple of weeks had been rather slow with little to no action outside of a few small Grimm here and there and he was frankly getting bored. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't a huge fan of having his or any of his friends' lives put in danger, but he would admit that he was a bit of a thrill seeker. He enjoyed fighting a good opponent and letting actions speak for themselves.

Then again, knowing his rotten/great luck, this little respite was sure to come to an end some time soon.

Thankfully, Cinder came to a stop, though Naruto had to raise a brow at the choice of venue. It was an empty classroom.

'_Pretty sure this is how one of Ero-Sennin's books started,' _Naruto thought with a sweatdrop.

Cinder's smoky voice simultaneously brought him back to the situation at hand while also serving to further his concern about what the raven haired woman had planned for him, "Perfect, don't you think?"

"Uhh, sure?" Naruto answered, somewhat nervous now.

His demeanor did a complete turn around when the amber eyed woman revealed an all too familiar ring.

"The last of the rings belonging to the infamous terrorist group known simply as, Akatsuki," Cinder intoned.

"You've been doing some research," Naruto answered tersely.

While he had been "gifted" eight of the nine rings he now had, Cinder had made no mention that she knew what they were for or why they were important. She of course knew there was some significance to them due to his reaction towards the items, but he had thought that was all she knew.

That was apparently no longer the case.

A pit formed in Naruto's stomach as Cinder continued, "Ten rings. Ten powerful rogue shinobi. Nine monstrous forces of nature. One all powerful primordial being known simply as the Jūbi."

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Naruto bit out, "What do you want Cinder? What are you getting at?"

Cinder smirked, "I assume that you know the story of the Four Maidens and the Old Wizard, yes?"

This did nothing to calm Naruto's growing nerves, "What of it?"

Cinder's next move threw even Naruto, "The Most Surprising Ninja", for a loop.

In a fluid and seductive flow of motions, the raven haired woman casually tossed the ring to the Jinchūriki and seated herself atop a nearby desk, one creamy leg crossed over the other, "Nothing at all. It was an interesting story, especially when we know so little about our own history in this day and age. Yet, you possess knowledge of a time even before such myths."

Pocketing the final Akatsuki ring, Naruto crossed his arms and gazed at Cinder, questions bouncing around his head, "Why do all of this? Finding these rings was probably not all that easy and then you let me borrow Neo for that mission. I know you want me to help you, but I've already told you I won't, so, why?"

"What's it like?" Cinder asked, completely dodging the question like she had the rest of them.

Growing progressively more irritated, Naruto growled, "What're you talking about?"

"Chakra. What's it feel like to use and have a power that allowed the shinobi of old to perform almost god-like feats?" Cinder clarified..

Raising a brow, the whiskered Uzumaki seemed to ponder the question before answering, "It's...warm and really gets you pumped. It makes you feel almost invincible and when you use it to do a really powerful jutsu it's almost...relieving I guess."

Cinder took in the answer, her amber eyes scanning Naruto like she was seeing him for the very first time, "Who trained you to use your chakra?"

Naruto was suddenly unsure of how he should answer that. If he told her the truth, even without telling her the details of the Academy and such, the fact that several people were able to teach him would raise more questions, questions that would lead to Cinder quickly being able to piece together even more of his story.

Quickly, the blond decided to go the route he had with his teammates and friends upon first meeting them, "My godfather did. He took me under his wing and taught me almost all I know. Everything else I learned by myself."

Cinder tilted her head and gazed directly into his eyes as if she were about to call him on his slight bluff.

A few tense moments later and she seemed satisfied by the answer, "Interesting."

Without a word more, Cinder smoothly stood to her feet and began making her way to the exit. Naruto, completely caught off guard, could do little more than watch as she left, leaving him in a classroom lit by the dim light of a sunset.

"What the hell just happened?"

* * *

"This is different for you," Blake calmly observed.

Laid out on the grassy cliff they had been launched from during initiation, using his jacket as a pillow, Naruto peered at the standing Faunus, "Gotta keep things fresh."

Smiling at the ball of sunshine, the teen Faunus took a seat next to him, "So, how was the mission really?"

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Naruto replied, "It was...eye opening. I finally know what happened after I was sent here and even managed to find Konoha. That was...difficult, but I'm thankful that Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were there with me."

Blake hummed, "If you ever need someone, you know that we're all here for you, right?"

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, I do and I couldn't thank you guys enough for that."

"So, reincarnation?" The raven haired teen asked, having recalled what her friend had told her and the others earlier in the day. The way it had been described had reminded her of one of her favorite books _'A Man with Two Souls'_.

Naruto chuckled at the less than subtle question, "Well, I don't have memories of a past life or anything like that, so I don't think it counts as reincarnation."

A small smile appeared on Blake's face, "Then what is it?"

"Far as the old Sage said, it was called transmigration. Something about how strong chakras remain after their owner dies and finds a new host. In this case, I got one of his son's, Asura's, chakra," Naruto explained as best he could.

"I assume that comes with some kind of perk?"

Naruto shrugged, "Not that I know of. The old Sage mentioned not being able to give me my 'birthright as a child of my blood', but he did say that me and Kurama still have some power or something to unlock."

Blake hummed, not at all surprised to learn that her blond friend still had room to grow even stronger. In her mind, Naruto just didn't have the limits most people seemed to have, even if you took chakra and everything else out of the equation. The blond was someone who pushed himself to the brink and then went further than that, all in the name of wanting to make sure his friends and loved ones were safe and happy.

It was that force of will and sheer stubbornness that let him smash through the walls and plateaus others would have been stopped by.

Her thoughts turning to her blond friend, the young Faunus soon found herself wondering how different her life would've been if she had met Naruto at a younger age. A lot had happened to her in her younger years to shape her into the person she is today and yet Naruto had so easily changed a lot of that, bringing down the walls she surrounded herself with after leaving a group she had thought of as family.

That train of thought brought up the question, would she have even thought of joining the White Fang if Naruto had been in her life?

That was the million dollar question that kept nagging her. However, thinking about the White Fang brought up her most recent memories of the activist group turned terrorists and they were less than pleasant.

Naruto didn't need any sort of extra sense to know that Blake was frustrated and worried about something.

"Something wrong?"

Knowing it was pointless to try and lie to the blond, Blake sighed, "It's just, the White Fang. I still don't get why they're working with someone like Torchwick. They're clearly up to something big and it bothers me that no one is doing anything about it. We're just sitting around acting like nothing's wrong."

Naruto nodded before rising to his feet and offering a hand to the still seated teen.

Despite being highly confused, Blake still took the offered hand, "Where are we going?"

"Simple. You said it bothers you that no one's doing anything about this whole White Fang thing, so we're going to go do something about it," Naruto grinned.

Watching the taller teen began to walk off, Blake raced to catch up, "Naruto! It's not that simple! We have no idea what they're planning or even how to go about digging up any info! Besides, what are just me and you going to do?"

Not in the least bit deterred by her logic, Naruto kept on casually walking back to Beacon, "Well it doesn't have to be just me and you, we both have teammates who'd be more than happy to help and you're forgetting, super awesome ninja here. This will be a cakewalk!"

Blake sighed and shook her head, "I don't even know why I try arguing with you."

Naruto offered a cheeky grin in reply.

* * *

**AN: **Guys….RTX WAS FUCKING AMAZING.

If any of you are ever on the fence about attending, do it. It is so worth the money and time.

Jeff Williams, Casey, and their band know how to put on a fucking show. Definitely one of my favorite concerts I've been to.

Aside from that,

HOLY FUCKING SHIT VOL 4 IS GONNA BE FUCKING BONKERS. The animation looks so fucking smooth and flawless now. The new character designs look fucking ace and probably the most important detail: ITS TAKING PLACE AFTER A TIME SKIP.

By now I'm sure a bunch of the info and even the new preview have leaked out onto the internet somewhere, but jesus christ being in a room full of fellow RWBY nerds and watching that trailer was indescribable. We lost our goddamn minds.

Also, RUBY IS FUCKING BADASS.

There is no doubt in my mind this season is going to blow everyone's mind at all angles.

October 22nd, the premier of the first episode, could not come any faster.

Now, what does this mean for the story? Well there was a lot of stuff discussed and explained at the panel for RWBY and even the panel with Jeff and Casey shed some light on some topics.

Fun fact, Jeff singlehandedly helped to create Summer Rose and subsequently kill her in one very casual conversation with Monty.

But it's just given me so much more to play with. Safe to say I really don't have to hold back on letting Naruto loose seeing just how strong everyone seems to grow at that point. The shit Ruby can now do with her Semblance puts her on par with shit like Obito's Kamui. You'll know what I mean when you see the trailer eventually.

I AM PUMPED.

This also means I gotta get my ass into gear seeing as how we're barely on like episode two of Volume 2.

Now I know I've said that with the way I've done things here, this story will diverge hugely by the end of Vol. 3, but that doesn't mean that canon events won't bare any significance on the story after that point. Quite the opposite really.

If anyone wants to discuss things concerning RWBY and such, my pm box is open, like always.

Feel free to drop a review, I hugely appreciate them!

Hope you all enjoy the RWBY news coming out, and are having a great summer so far. I assume most of you are probably out playing Pokemon Go, just like I am, so be safe out there!

Until next chapter!

Peace out!


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: **I had a whole like, paragraph or two written, raving about my irritation towards the handful of reviews/flames that went off and bitched and moaned about an insignificant and offhanded comment I made last chapter.

Then, as I sat and read it, I reverted back to my usual "Fuck 'em" attitude. Ranting and raving to my friend about it also helped.

Now, to the reviews that weren't a pile of inane childishness, thank you. You guys continue to surprise me with your predictions and even ideas. If I ever take an idea from one of you, I will try my hardest to give credit where it's due.

As much as I have this planned out, some of you come up with some pretty cool stuff and I'm always open to hear a new idea or something different.

Really though, that says something about the Naruto and RWBY fanbases. Not just that, but really, the people on this site. Like anything on the internet, it has its fair share of shitty people, but it also has some really friendly, and well natured people. Glad to see that, at least for me, I have more of the latter interacting with me and this story.

NOW, on to the damn story!

* * *

"Couldn't resist, could you?" Ren asked as he finished getting ready for the self imposed mission ahead.

Taking the jab at his thrill seeking ways, Naruto grinned, "I was getting pretty bored."

"So you consider finding lost villages and trekking into uncharted, Grimm filled territory boring?" Pyrrha asked with a chuckle.

Naruto only laughed, somewhat abashed, in response.

"I'm just excited we get to try out our new outfits!" Nora cried in her usual exuberance.

The orange haired teen proceeded to prance around the room, showing off her new set of clothes. While she had kept her pink skirt, a pair of black leggings now covered her legs, ending in a pair of all pink ankle boots. The boots had sections of white outlining them and bore her signature hammer symbol on either side of the ankles. Gone was her white top with a heart shaped hole, replaced by a light gray, long sleeved, V-neck shirt with a heart split by a lightning bolt in pink emblazoned over her chest. Over top that she wore a sleeveless white vest, her hammer and lightning bolt symbol etched into the back of it in her usual shade of pink.

Stretching out an arm and buttoning up his new coat, Ren examined the cloth, "Achievement Hunter did do a really good job on these."

While Nora had opted for covering more skin, Ren had taken the opposite direction, his emerald tail coat replaced by a sleeveless and thinner one of a similar color, however the black portion was now a simple stripe that stretched from his abdomen to his collar. The coat didn't button up all the way and exposed the tight black shirt he wore underneath the much longer coat. Etched into the back of the emerald over coat was Ren's lotus symbol in the same shade of magenta as his eyes and hair. His pants, like his top, hadn't changed all that much except they now only reached to to the top portion of his ankles and billowed out, allowing for more freedom of movement.

"I must admit, I do like the change," Pyrrha added admiring her own set of clothes.

Out of the three, the redhead had been the one whose change in clothing was the most drastic. The emerald eyed teen had done away with her pieces of armor almost entirely, her torso now covered by a somewhat flowing and loose white top with gold lace embroidered in random patterns. Her mini skirt had also been swapped out for a pair of fitted brown shorts that reached to her mid thigh. Despite having changed much of her outfit, Pyrrha had opted to keep the flowing stretch of red cloth tied around her waist, held up now by a golden plate with her shield and spear emblem etched into it.

One of the most drastic changes to her look was the decision to get rid of the bronze circlet that helped to keep her hair in place. Now, her crimson locks softly framed her face. Her ponytail was now tied up by a thin length of golden colored lace that weaved into her hair as well.

While she had also kept the armlet on her upper arm, Pyrrha had decided to not wear her opera style gloves, leaving her alabaster skin exposed.

The whole change had surprised her teammates, none more so than Naruto who, upon seeing his partner with her new look, had walked straight into a wall.

Speaking of the blond, the whiskered teen had also changed his style up. His formerly all black and rather thick jacket had been swapped out for a much thinner one with dark burnt orange sleeves, the Uzumaki spiral still present on each shoulder. He had also decided to swap out his black shirt for a simple white one with a swirl of fire that represented the Will of Fire. His Uzushio hitae-ate now hung loosely around his neck, allowing his blond spikes to fall around his face again.

Flexing his arms and admiring the extremely soft and flexible material, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, this even beats some of the stuff we had during my time. Surprised that Ryan and Gavin managed to not kill each other when they were making these."

Ren smirked, "I wouldn't be so sure, I heard Ryan plotting something as we were leaving."

The team of four shared a laugh as they imagined the madhouse that the Achievement Hunter shop was right now.

"Foxy!" came an all too familiar and boisterous voice.

Naruto shook his head as Yang barged into their room without any sort of preamble. Within a few short moments, he was being suffocated by his fellow blond's impressive pair of assets.

"New clothes? You know just how to treat a girl!" Yang cheered.

Managing to free himself from the "mounds of doom", the whiskered teen took in the sight of team RWBY, decked out in their own set of new clothes courtesy of the Achievement Hunter crew.

Yang's new set of clothes, while covering more than her usual set did, made her seem even more alluring. The busty brawler now wore a cream colored coat over top a black top, both of which left a considerable amount of cleavage visible. A black sort of half jacket that only covered her collarbone and neck had sleeves that reached to just past her elbows, ending in a gold coloring. Several black and gold belts hung loosely around her hips, tied to which was a simple purple and lilac colored piece of cloth. Covering her legs were a pair of black stockings, bearing her burning heart symbol in a vibrant gold.

Ruby was now wearing a grey long sleeved shirt, over top which was a black pinafore with red laces dangling from each side. She of course still wore her cloak/cape, though this one seemed more scarf like as it was much more thickly bundled around her neck. Her skirt had also been swapped out for a red one, her rose emblem printed in black on it. Her legs were covered by all black stockings which were tucked into her red and black boots.

Blake had donned a white, zip-up, v-neck shirt with black trim that left her toned stomach visible. Barely visible on her left side was her belladonna flower symbol in a light gray that almost matched the white of her shirt. The young Faunus had also swapped out her usual black and purple leggings for a pair of form fitting black pants with a gray stripe stretching vertically down the outside of each leg. A black belt hung around her hips, around the backside of which hung a layer of black cloth over top another, longer, layer of a see through purple cloth.

Weiss had gone for a much simpler look than her usual one, swapping out her bolero and skirt combo for a single piece dress in white that matched her snow like hair. The insides, buttons, and frilly bottom parts of the dress were a contrasting black though, adding a little flavor to the new outfit. Her snowflake emblem was branded across the back of the outfit in a light blue. Her legs were covered by a pair of thigh high, white, high heeled boots.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "They are...kind of nice."

Ruby chuckled, "What Weiss is TRYING to say is, thank you for the new clothes. And they are really awesome!"

Used to Weiss' usual behavior, Naruto grinned, "Yeah, I know how Princess is."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"

"I doubt these are just some new clothes for the sake of it, so what's so different about them?" Blake asked curiously, ignoring her indignant teammate.

Naruto scratched his head, "I honestly wasn't paying all that much attention. Gavin and Ryan were going on about something to do with weaving some kind of lightweight steel and Dust, or something. All I got was that they're way more durable and kind of like armor."

That caught Weiss' interest, "I've worn clothes infused with Dust and none it is near as light and comfortable as this."

Naruto shrugged, "Beats me."

The snow haired heiress sighed in frustration, "Why am I not surprised?"

Nora, done prancing around, jumped in to defend her captain, "Because he wouldn't be Captain Whiskers otherwise!"

"...thanks?" Naruto sweatdropped, not sure if the hammer wielder knew she had just given him a rather backhanded compliment, even if it was unintentional.

Deciding to move forward with their not so little mission, Ruby interjected, "So what's our game plan!?"

Pyrrha, having been one of the ones responsible for the plan, spoke up, "Weiss and Ruby, you two will head to the CCT to check the records for any recent robberies or other odd inconsistencies."

Weiss smirked, "As a member of the Schnee family, that shouldn't be too hard."

"You got it!" Ruby cheered.

Naruto stepped up next, "Me and Blake will see if we can find and get into a White Fang rally, see if we can get any info there."

Ren crossed his arms, "Nora and I will head for the docks again, see if there is anything left behind that could be useful."

"And I have an old friend on the shady side of town. Me and Pyrrha will head over there and see if he knows anything," Yang added.

With a round of nods and cheers, the group of teens was off.

* * *

"I always forget how big the tower is!" Ruby practically gushed as she gazed at the several stories tall structure.

Weiss smirked, "You should see the one in Atlas."

Ruby snapped her fingers, "I totally forgot, you're from Atlas!"

Weiss sighed in frustration as she rubbed her forehead, "What do you mean you forgot!?"

The red and black haired team captain abashedly rubbed her head, "Kinda just slipped my mind."

'_Oh god, he's rubbing off on her!' _Weiss thought in horror.

"Wait, doesn't that mean you would know General Ironwood?" Ruby asked curiously.

"I...do. My sister, Winter, actually works for him," the Schnee heiress admitted.

Filing away the fact that her partner had a sister, the younger teen asked, "Do you know why he doesn't like Naruto?"

Weiss sighed, "General Ironwood isn't exactly the most...liberal person. He's very strict about certain matters and works in a very militaristic fashion. He no doubt knows about team NNPR having been forced into active duty, but with as...childish as Naruto usually is, General Ironwood wouldn't exactly be too happy with him, especially considering he's the team leader."

Ruby frowned, "Well what does it matter how Naruto acts? Professor Ozpin trusts Naruto, and we know that he's a great leader."

"Yes, we know that, but General Ironwood doesn't and he's in a position of power, so his words carry more weight than ours do," Weiss answered.

Before the two could carry on with their conversation, a familiar shock of orange and green caught Ruby's eyes, "Penny!"

The ginger haired teen waved cheerily, "Salutations!"

"Hey guys!" Another familiar voice called out.

Turning, both Ruby and Weiss weren't at all surprised to see Jaune jogging up to them, remembering that he was Penny's caretaker of sorts.

Rolling her eyes and knowing they'd only get sidetracked, Weiss said, "Ruby, we have something important to take care of, remember?"

"Maybe I can help!" Penny chimed in.

A look of slight hesitation and unease crossed Jaune's face for a second as he recalled one of the more important parts of being Penny's friend/handler, "Uh, Penny, I don't think they need our help! After all weren't there some stores you wanted to see?"

Before anyone could react, the blond Atlesian was dragging his charge away at a rather quick pace, garnering raised brows from Ruby and Weiss.

"Well, that was weird," Weiss summed up.

Ruby frowned, "Yeah, that was really weird."

"Oh well, we got other things to worry about," the Schnee heiress shrugged off, already making her way to the large structure that was the CCT.

"You go on! I'm going to try and figure out what's going on with those two!" Ruby called back, racing away.

Massaging her forehead, the snow haired heiress began to mutter a mantra to herself, "Coming to Vale was a good idea, coming to Vale was a good idea…"

* * *

"This is the spot!" Yang called out, stepping off her personalized motorcycle in one clean and smooth movement.

Pyrrha sighed as she dismounted the machine, shakily regaining her sense of gravity, "Yang, who gave you your license?"

Threading her fingers through her hair to rid it of any helmet hair or knots, the blond quirked a brow, "My what?"

The redhead sweatdropped, "Nevermind."

Turning, the two regarded the warehouse like building before them, Pyrrha with a small amount of trepidation and Yang with curiosity.

"Huh, Junior must have renovated or something," Yang remarked casually, noticing the remodeled front section.

Shrugging, the blonde sauntered off to the entrance, Pyrrha following suit.

To Pyrrha's curiosity, the two, presumed, bouncers took one look at the pair before rushing into the building with a look of fear painted across their faces, slamming the doors behind them.

Instead of being shocked or even deterred, Yang grinned, "Looks like we get an entrance!"

Without any sort of warning, the blond teen marched up to the doors and punched them into splinters with a war cry.

'_Yang and Naruto should never have children,' _Pyrrha mentally decided, not out of a sense of jealousy, but out of worry and fear of what the two blonds making babies would bring upon the world.

Images of small, blond, blue and purple eyed children running around with super strength, the power of the elements at their beck and call, and a general disregard or care for any sense of decency or normalcy raced through the redhead's mind.

Pyrrha shivered.

Shoving that image into the deeper levels of her memory, hopefully to be forgotten, the redhead followed after her temporary partner.

Walking through the doors, or what remained of them, Pyrrha sighed and had to resist the urge to put palm to face.

"Guess who's back!" Yang called out.

The next instant, dozens of guns were all trained on the blonde who didn't even flinch.

A less than pleased look slowly formed on Yang's face as she crossed her arms and frowned.

"Stop! Stop! Would you idiots just put the damn guns away?" A voice called out. Junior forced his way through his employees and examined the pair of teens before him before turning to address Yang, "Blondie, you're back...with a friend...why?"

Said busty teen smirked as she marched up to the club owner, grabbing him by the arm and roughly dragging him to the bar counter, "You still owe me a drink."

Pyrrha frowned when the eyes of the club workers turned to her with less than savory grins on their faces. Before the inevitable cat calls and such could begin, the redhead made her way to stand with Yang.

"Look, I don't know anything blondie. Last I talked to him was months ago when he asked for some of my men. We couldn't even finish the deal before him and his damn sidekick started something with some blond and his pet fox," Junior grit out in frustration.

Both Yang and Pyrrha looked at each other in surprise at the mention of a blond and a fox, something which sounded eerily familiar.

"He wouldn't have happened to have whisker marks and carry a staff, would he?" Pyrrha asked.

Junior frowned, "Yeah. Brat had come in here and was just drinking before Torchwick had to bother him. Would've kicked them both out if I had known his pet fox was gonna blow out the whole front of this place."

'_Naruto drinks?' _The two teens unknowingly thought at the same time.

Pyrrha thought about it for a moment before recalling that Naruto had mentioned that during his time, most bars would allow shinobi of any age to drink, operating on the principle of "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink". Even still, she had never taken her partner for the type to indulge in the bottle.

Seeing as they had gotten all they could out of the shady club owner, the two decided to cut their losses, making their way out.

"Hopefully the others are having more luck than we are," Yang lamented.

* * *

"Claw marks? Really? Real inconspicuous," Naruto snarked as he followed Blake.

Rolling her eyes, the cat Faunus continued to follow the lead of the claw marks, knowing that it was how the White Fang led others to their recruiting meetings, "You have bright blond hair and wear orange, I don't think you can talk about being inconspicuous."

"Hey, I know damn well how to be sneaky when I want to," Naruto protested.

Remembering the story of how he had painted a literal mountain in bright daylight wearing an even brighter shade of orange, Blake had to give this one to the whiskered teen.

Peeking around a corner, the two took were relieved to see that they had finally found the apparent meeting spot, Faunus of varying ages making their way into the warehouse.

Wanting to make sure that no one would question him for a lack of animalistic features, Naruto funneled a small amount of Kurama's chakra through his body, thickening his whiskers, turning his eyes a crimson red, and extending his canines.

A Henge would have probably worked just as well, but authenticity was often the better disguise.

The shinobi and Huntress to be casually made their way up to the warehouse, greeted by an unassuming older gentleman who handed them each a visor that looked like the one most of the terrorist/activist group wore.

Curious, Naruto had to ask, "Any reason these masks look like a Grimm's?"

Placing hers on and pushing aside the rush of memories the familiar mask brought, Blake explained, "Most people saw us as monsters, so we decided to don the masks of monsters."

Naruto frowned as he placed his on, "So instead of fighting against that prejudice, you gave in and became what they said you were."

Being no stranger to the prejudice of humans, Naruto was familiar with the idea of giving in to the hate and becoming the beast others painted you as. There had been many a time, especially after finding out about being Kurama's Jinchūriki, that the temptation of lashing out was all too inviting.

However, like Jiraiya and the Sandaime had taught him, returning hate with hate would only bring more hate, breeding pain and suffering, which would in turn lead to death and would then lead to even more hate perpetuating the cycle that had consumed the era of chakra for generations.

Blake flinched, but could not argue. After many a conversation with her blond friend, she had come to realize why Naruto wasn't fond of the White Fang and its current actions. She also couldn't fault him for his distaste either, knowing that he was familiar with the strife the Faunus people were faced with on a daily basis.

Filing those thoughts away, the pair became highly alert as they entered the open space of the warehouse, seeing a shockingly good blend of initiated White Fang members as well as what appeared to be aspiring recruits dressed in casual clothes.

Walking onto the stage, a man wearing a full mask with a muscled and tattooed form spoke out, "Thank you all for coming! For those of you who are joining us for the first time, I'd like to introduce to you a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for so long."

Roman Torchwick's appearance on stage was not well received, some of the White Fang members just as surprised and outraged as the initiates were.

Naruto peeked out of the corner of his eyes to see Blake clenching her fist tightly, barely holding herself back from lashing out at the orange haired crime boss.

Returning his attention to the stage, Naruto frowned. While he was not at all a fan of the man, Torchwick knew how to talk to people. A few words and he had already gained the trust of those gathered at the rally, as uneasy as it was.

The former shinobi had to resist the urge to growl out as he was reminded of a certain Snake Sennin. The vile man had been just as charismatic, his words a sweet poison that had gained him the loyalty of many a shinobi, despite the horrid way he treated them.

Thankfully, Torchwick was neither as powerful or as evil as Orochimaru was. The rogue shinobi had gone as far as human experimentation and defiling the dead in his attempt to evade his own mortality, twisting his soul and body into a monstrous form that had no longer been human or even resembled the man he had once been.

"Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around...no offense to any rodents in the room," Torchwick smugly finished.

With a snap of his finger, the White Fang banner that had been hanging from the ceiling fell away, revealing a large mechanized behemoth armed to the teeth with various guns and explosives.

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked upon the hulking machine, _'That can't be good.'_

"How did he get his hands on that?" Blake whispered in panic.

This was far more than they had originally intended to find, not only because of what they were looking at, but because it meant so much more. This wasn't simply a move to show off some muscle or to prove a point, no this was the beginnings of all out war.

Naruto's mind was racing a mile a minute as he Torchwick continued his speech, admitting that the White Fang and his group had managed to steal more of these, apparently Atlesian, mechs. Apparently, the White Fang itself had also relocated elsewhere, preparing for something big.

'_What the hell are you planning Cinder!?' _Naruto mentally growled.

'_She's preparing to wage a full scale war,' _Kurama solemnly replied, taking in what his container saw from the seal with a grimace.

"Would all new recruits please move forward!" the White Fang spokesman called out.

Noticing that they were quickly becoming the center of attention as they weren't moving anywhere, Naruto called out, "Blake! Lights!"

Nodding, the raven haired teen took aim and shot out the circuit breaker, plunging the warehouse into darkness.

Shouts and calls for retaliation followed, Naruto and Blake quickly making their exit through a second story window.

Following right behind them was the Atlesian mech, Torchwick piloting it from the inside, as it tore through the concrete wall with ease.

Without a word, the two teens took to the roofs, both jumping from building to building with a practiced ease, somewhat surprising Naruto as he had yet to meet someone who could travel in such a very shinobi way.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Naruto reached into his jacket and pulled out his Scroll, quickly calling the rest of his team and team RWBY, "Guys! We need backup! ASAP!"

* * *

Weiss, coming out of the CTT after having scoured through the databanks, listened, "There's a huge mech thing the White Fang managed to get their hands on and it is tearing its way through the city! Could use some help!"

Rolling her eyes, the Schnee heiress began to sprint off, following the sounds of destruction in the distance.

* * *

Ruby grinned as Naruto continued, "Holy crap it just took out an entire building! Could really use that backup!"

"I am so not missing out on this!" the young teen cheered, disappearing in a burst of speed.

* * *

"No seriously guys! We have got to stop this thing before!...oh...well there goes that mall..."

"Oooo! We get to fight a Gundam!" Nora cheered with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Nora!" Ren called out, already sprinting off.

"Coming Ren!"

* * *

"Where are you guys!?" Yang questioned, her and Pyrrha already situated on her bike.

"OVER HERE!" Naruto called out as he, Blake, and the mech sped passed the alley where Yang and Pyrrha were waiting.

Yang sweatdropped as she revved her motorcycle, "Leave it to Foxy."

* * *

Naruto spared a quick glance behind himself, watching as the mech was incredibly able to follow him and Blake as they leapt onto a highway. In that same moment, he caught a flash of yellow and red quickly catching up to the rampaging machine.

"Looks like our backup is coming in!" Naruto cried over the roar of the winds as he leapt onto the hood of another car. Turning around and planting his feet, he continued, "Let's give 'em a hand!"

Blake followed his example, readying Gambol Shroud.

With a poise and sense of balance gained from years of grueling training, Pyrrha stood atop the back end of Yang's bike as it tore down the highway, Milo in rifle form.

Likewise, Naruto pulled out Hi no Ishi, aiming down the barrel at the Atlesian machine rampaging towards them.

Before Torchwick could do much of anything, he was being jostled within the mech as three sets of gunfire rained down on him.

Taking note of where the gunfire was coming from, the crime boss moved the mech to grab a passing vehicle, flinging it at an extremely caught off guard Naruto.

"Naruto!" Pyrrha cried, watching the vehicle as well as her teammate go sailing over the edge of the highway.

She and Yang were given no respite either though, Roman purposefully moving into the traffic and knocking back several cars aimed at taking them out. Seeing one headed right for her, Pyrrha pushed off Yang's bike as the blond swerved to move out of the way. Using a slight amount of polarity manipulation, the redhead scaled the car, sprung off it as it reached the apex of its arc, and landed on the machine, plunging Mió through it.

With her hand pulsing a dark gray, Pyrrha used her Semblance and began to literally bend and peel away the metal of the machine with ridiculous ease.

"What the hell is she doing!?" Roman cried as light began to leak into the cockpit.

Realizing that he would have to quickly rid himself of the redhead lest she pop open his new weapon like a can opener, Torchwick made to jump into the quickly approaching highway above them, intent on smashing Pyrrha between the concrete structure and him.

That plan was just as quickly derailed.

"YAHOO!"

With a flash of pink and a shout, Nora came flying onto the scene like she had been fired out of a canon.

Seeing her teammate, Pyrrha called out, "Nora! Magnet crush!"

An even bigger grin crossed Nora's face at hearing the combo attack.

Before Torchwick even had time to reevaluate his plan, Pyrrha was using her semblance to "pull" Magnhild towards her, greatly increasing Nora's own acceleration.

With a sound similar to a clap of thunder, Magnhild met Atlesian machinery with the force of a speeding train, plowing into the hulking mech and sending it rocketing through the nearby highway supports.

Having leapt off the machine at the last possible moment, Pyrrha landed with a soft thud, keeping an eye on the downed machine.

The rest of her team as well as the girls of team RWBY were quick to catch up, all of them ready to rush into the fight.

Naruto, having been thrown off the edge, casually walked back onto the highway using chakra.

Ruby was the first to speak out, equally excited and curious about Pyrrha and Nora's attack, "What was that!?"

Nora grinned, "That's what I call a good smashing!"

"Uh guys, it's getting back up," Blake announced with a frown.

"That thing can sure as hell take a beating," Naruto remarked casually.

Weiss chimed in, "My family and the Atlesian R&amp;D department have been working on the Paladin for years now. There's no way they'd send them out into the field if they couldn't sustain a lot of damage from Grimm and Huntsmen alike."

"Any ideas on how to take it down Princess?" Naruto asked, absentmindedly twirling Hi no Ishi.

The Schnee heiress sighed, "As loathe as I am to say it, hit it hard and hit it fast."

Nora, Naruto, and Yang grinned, "You just said the magic words Princess!"

Without a word more, the three heavy hitters leapt off the highway, falling to the empty area below them.

Pyrrha shrugged before following their lead, Ruby joining her with a grin on her face. Ren and Blake sighed simultaneously before joining their teammates.

Weiss stood for a moment longer, "Hopefully no one back home hears about this. Doubt they'd be happy to hear I helped to destroy one of the new Paladins…"

* * *

Down below, Roman was forcing the Paladin to move, a sneer stretched across his face as blood streamed from his forehead, "Really should install some kind of seatbelts in this damn thing."

A rushing Naruto, Nora, and Yang gave him no more time to make any more jokes.

Before he could even begin to make an attack, Yang was on him, throwing a powerful strike at the cockpit. However the armor of the Paladin proved to be made of a tougher stuff, barely suffering a dent.

With the flick of a control, Torchwick smashed a robotic arm into the blonde brawler, sending her flying.

"Cannonball Nora!"

"Weeeee!"

Roman was again violently jostled around inside the Atlesian mech as Nora's hammer smashed into the Paladin.

Nora quickly hopped away as the two males of team NNPR were already speeding towards the still stunned mech.

"Ren! Bolt Flower!"

Quickly and without the need for seals, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin which Ren used as a springboard. Landing with a handstand on top of the Paladin, Ren unleashed a stream of bullets straight down into the joints of the mech. Shifting his center of gravity, the long haired teen cartwheeled, striking with a flurry of slashes from Storm Flower.

Gracefully landing on his feet, Ren dismounted with a quick jump and a flip, still firing bullets as he did so.

He was met by Naruto who had swiftly passed through the mech's legs, using the blade of Hi no Ishi to let loose his own whirlwind of attacks.

With a seamless and rehearsed grace, the two swapped places, Naruto hitting high while Ren hit low.

Sparks flew as the two males ran circles around Roman and his machine, dealing more and more damage with each successive pass.

Finally having had enough, Roman used all of his strength to move the arms of the Paladin, smashing them into the ground with enough force to crater it and throw both Ren and Naruto off balance for a quick second, a second the flame haired criminal took advantage of. Lashing out with rapid gunfire from the Paladin's mounted guns.

Naruto and Ren were quick to retreat, though their spots were quickly filled by a rushing Ruby and Blake.

"Ladybug!"

Sparks flew as Crescent Rose sliced into the mech, tearing through the mech like the claw of an angry beast.

Gambol Shroud carved out several of its own jagged grooves in a blur of slashes and gunfire.

Roman was again put on the defensive as the fastest and most nimble members of team RWBY ricocheted around him in blurs of crimson and black.

The two young ladies were forced to retreat though as an increasingly furious Torchwick unleashed a plethora of missiles, intent on ridding himself of the bothersome teens.

Seeing the missiles speeding towards her and the others, Weiss stepped forward. With her usual poise and grace, the Schnee heiress plunged Myrtenaster into the ground and erected a wall of jagged ice spikes.

The crystal-like structure exploded in a shower of flakes and snow, having done its job and protected those behind it from the flying explosives.

Out of the cloud of smoke and ice, Yang came charging out with a warcry, eager to rejoin the fray.

The blonde's fist collided with the Atlesian Paladin with a crack of fire and enough power to dent the hard metal armor. However, she was not quick enough to dodge Roman's retaliation, a cold metallic fist that sent her tumbling into a concrete support pillar.

Cracks in the structure formed and chunks of concrete were dislodged as Yang's body harshly collided with the pillar.

Roman pushed the Paladin to speed forward, intent on finishing off one of the brats that had been a rather bothersome thorn in his side.

"Leave her alone!" Blake cried out, appearing between her teammate and the charging mech.

"Weiss! Use it!" Naruto suddenly cried out, worried for both of his friends.

Without any kind of acknowledgment, the snow haired heiress sprung into action, waving both Myrtenaster and her fingers to form a completely new and untested rune, one she was sure not even Winter had thought of, one created as a joint project between herself and Naruto.

A trail of dark violet energy followed her fingers as Weiss focused on forming the intricate array, pouring both her Aura and concentration into the construct. With a final wave of her fingers and her weapon, an encompassing circle of archaic and unknown symbols spun into life below the Paladin, the large design glowing a vibrant and royal shade of purple.

In that exact moment the hulking metal behemoth was ground to a halt and even forced to its knees. The others looked on in awe as Weiss was visibly using all her might and power to do whatever it was she was doing to the Paladin. Sweat began to dot her brow as she pushed her Semblance even further which in turn caused the sound of creaking joints and metal to ring through the air.

Seeing the opportunity granted to them, Pyrrha and the others attempted to rush the downed and trapped mech only for Naruto call out, "Stop! Don't go near that thing!"

Curious eyes regarded the blond, forcing him to answer, "This is a rune me and Weiss have been designing. Anything within its circle of influence is put under an intensified field of gravity. If you jumped in, it'd probably crush your bones and insides."

As if to prove his point, sparks began to fly from the Paladin as even louder groans and creaks were heard, the glowing of the rune intensifying as well.

Naruto hoped that Weiss would have enough energy to crush the mech under an insane amount of pressure, but he had underestimated just how much punishment the machine could take and Weiss was already pushing herself to her limits, this being the first time their creation was used in live combat.

Despite that, he had to admit that he was rather proud to see something he had helped to make doing what it was intended to. If this was what Weiss and the Gravity Rune were capable of doing to a thousands of pounds armored behemoth, he could only imagine what it would do to Grimm or even a human enemy.

However seeing the somewhat disappointed look on Yang's face, Naruto formed a new idea.

"Yang! You and me?"

Seeing the feral grin on her fellow blonde's face, the busty teen felt a pleasant shiver crawl down her spine, bringing one of her own grins out.

"How could I say no?"

The two blondes bumped fists, each letting loose their power at that exact moment.

Yang's Semblance flared to life, changing her lilac eyes into a light shade of crimson while her blonde mane seemed to gain an almost ethereal glow to it, making it seem like flowing gold. While this wasn't the height of what her Semblance could do for her, she had taken enough damage to give her an edge.

Naruto flared his own chakra while drawing on the energy of Nature, bringing on his Sage Mode, amber eyes and all. With as much chakra as he was letting loose, a light blue luminescent shroud had formed around him. The visible chakra flowed and danced around him like a living flame.

The two blondes stepped away from their awe struck teammates, moving in such a synchronised fashion that it looked like they had been doing this for years.

The similarities ended there though as Yang cocked Ember Celica with a casual flick of her wrists while Naruto held out his hand, a Rasengan whirring into existence.

"Think we can hit it hard enough?" Yang asked sarcastically, knowing full well that the mass of metal and tech would not survive the two of them.

Naruto grinned, creating two Shadow Clones. One grabbed the arm that wasn't holding the spinning ball of doom while the other grabbed Yang's.

"Oh, we will."

Without another word, the two clones moved as one and used their strength to begin spinning their creator and his fellow blond.

With a war cry and a feral glint to each of their eyes, Naruto and Yang were sent tearing through the air.

Right as they were just about to enter the field of Weiss' Gravity Rune, the heiress released the breath she had been holding, collapsing to her knees. Without a source of energy, the sprawling circle of runes collapsed and disappeared, releasing the Paladin.

However the timing had been perfect and Roman could do nothing but watch and brace himself for impact.

Fist and condensed ball of chakra met the armor of the Paladin with an explosion of power and force. For a split second, the protective layer of metal held strong. However the grinding nature of the Rasengan proved far more powerful as it began to tear through the material like it was paper. Likewise, Yang's monstrous strength forced the armor to groan and give way.

Together, the two pushed all their energy into their strike and let it loose.

The resulting explosion of chakra and Aura sent the Paladin spinning through the air like a bullet. The airborne mech collided with pillar after pillar, each collision destroying it further and further before it eventually could take no more and simply exploded in a shower of metal shrapnel.

A heavily wounded and clearly bleeding Torchwick lay on the cold concrete, coughing and moaning in pain, surrounded by the remains of the now destroyed Paladin.

The two teams approached the downed criminal with weapons raised, ready just in case he tried anything underhanded.

Looking at the man, Naruto couldn't shrug off the feeling that something was wrong.

His eyes scanned the surroundings, seeing nothing. However, since he was still in Sennin Mōdo, his ability to sense out others was heavily amplified. It was thanks to this that he was able to pick out the energy signature of a quickly moving Torchwick and Neo.

Growling, the blond surprised everyone when he viciously struck out with a slash from Hi no Ishi's blade. However instead of watching an already wounded Roman Torchwick be turned into mincemeat, they were instead treated to the sight and sound of glass breaking.

Wide eyed, the others watched as the image before them fell away, revealing that Naruto had only carved out a small trench in the concrete floor.

The sound of laughing and the roar of an engine caught everyone's attention.

With frowns, team RWBY and NNPR watched as Roman was carried away by a Bullhead.

"What the heck was that!?" Ruby cried out, completely confused.

As Naruto eye's bled back into their usual shade of blue, he answered, "An illusion, a very good one."

Yang huffed, "Well that's not fair."

Regaining his usual carefree demeanor, Naruto grinned, "As fair as it would've been if we let Pyrrha handle that big hunk of metal."

The members of team RWBY quirked a brow, confused by what he meant. Sure Pyrrha was strong, no doubt about that, but strong enough to fight that thing by herself? That was a little unbelievable.

"Pyrrha can control metal!" Nora exclaimed.

"Yeah, she probably would've just torn that thing apart with her bare hands," Naruto praised.

A faint red hue dusted the redhead's alabaster cheeks, "Well, actually I can control polarity so-"

A giddy Ruby interrupted the older teen, "That's sooo cool!"

Naruto watched with a grin as his friends all began to relax, returning to their normal demeanor and antics. However, he and Kurama were having a very different conversation through their link.

'_So what are we going to do now brat? Cinder has made it clear that she plans to wage an all out war to achieve her goals.'_

'_We stop her, simple as that,' _Naruto concluded with a hint of steel to his voice. He had seen the horrors that war brought on and he'd be damned if he sat back and watched Vale meet the same fate as Konoha.

Memories of Obito and his army of White Zetsu and reanimated corpses razing Konoha to the ground to get to him flashed through Naruto's mind, his fists clenching and unclenching.

'_Then we better get started on getting even stronger. I doubt Cinder has anything that could possibly pose us a challenge, but with Kaguya still skulking around in whatever form, it'd do us well to be prepared for anything,' _Kurama intoned.

Naruto nodded firmly. There were far too many unanswered questions and variables to simply sit back and wait.

If Kaguya really was still around, then he'd be ready for her and whatever her plan was.

* * *

**AN: **Alright, alright, would ya'll get off my back? God!

In all seriousness, this was a goddamn work of effort. Sections were changed, deleted, etc.

Hopefully you guys think I did Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha justice with their new outfits. I spent a lot of time just browsing through google images, looking at various pieces of fan art and taking cues from what I liked and didn't like.

Also, ya'll are a bunch of perverts. I'm not at all new to the world of ecchi or hentai, but damn I don't think Monty imagined Cinder doing that to Pyrrha.

Next chapter will be another mix of canon/my stuff as I'm trying to work my way to the all important Vytal Festival.

I've got plenty of ideas and plans for when we get there and I can not wait to get them out.

Also, yes, the next few chapters will be a little more action packed, seeing as how that hasn't been a thing for a few chapters.

To the person who asked me to find someone to do a reading of this fic, BlackMagic622 had originally been doing just that, but I haven't heard a word from the guy so I have no clue what's going on with that. If someone else wants to try their hand at taking on such a project, feel free to pm me.

Hope you all enjoyed this.

Ya'll should know the drill by now.

Peace out


	29. Chapter 29

**AN:** I have terrible memory so I sometimes find myself having to rewatch the series to kind of refresh myself. That said, I honestly did not realize how close we are to the end of Vol. 2 already. Following the whole Paladin bit, the next few episodes are a bit of filler and character building leading up to the dance. After that, it's the Mountain Glenn Arc which ultimately ends with "Breach", the season finale.

And I know the dance is something A LOT of you have been waiting for. Like, a whole fuck ton of you. The dance is probably one of the most mentioned/asked about events aside from the end of Vol. 3.

That all said, I noticed a rather noticeable influx of new readers. For those of you who have made it thus far, thanks for sticking through those early chapters! I know they weren't necessarily, "bad", but they weren't exactly up to the quality that most recent ones have displayed.

Also, welcome to those new readers who have also left reviews!

Last I checked, the Naruto x RWBY section had climbed up to the ranks of Naruto x Bleach, One Piece, Pokemon, and Harry Potter, sections with a dizzying number of stories. Not just that, this story is one of the most popular in the Naruto x RWBY section, topped only by stories from "butt face of whom I don't care for". And yes, that is my very childish nickname for that person.

But that is something I've accomplished all thanks to readers/reviewers old and new. For those of you just joining, and for those of you who have been here from the start, thank you all so much.

Sappy crap aside, LET'S GET ON WITH IT

**EDIT:** IMPORTANT INFO IN THE ENDING AN. ALSO, YES I HAVE JUST NOW SEEN THE FIRST EPISODE OF VOL. 4, THOUGHTS ON THAT IN ENDING AN AS WELL

* * *

"The destruction of a local mall, a whole section of Vale's highway system shutdown for repairs, infiltrating the meeting of a well known terrorist group, and to top it off, the total dismantling of an Atlesian prototype weapon," Ozpin read off casually.

The various members of teams RWBY and NNPR could do nothing but look increasingly sheepish. Well, most of them did. Nora sat there with a huge grin on her face, not at all bothered by the mass amounts of destruction she had played a part in. If anything, she looked quite pleased with herself.

Meanwhile, Glynda was doing her very best to not let loose on her students and give them an earful, one she felt they more than deserved.

Peering over his glasses, Ozpin took the time to examine each of the eight teens sat in his office. Finally his gaze landed on the whiskered captain of team NNPR. Naruto did not shy away from the headmaster's gaze, matching the older man's stare, not out of defiance, but as a show of his convictions.

While he wasn't exactly happy about all the collateral damage, Naruto knew very well that it could've been much worse. More to the point though, thanks to their actions, they had learned some incredibly crucial information, intel that could very well be the difference between life and death.

For a moment, neither of the two moved, a silent conversation of sorts taking place.

Without tearing his gaze away from that of the younger teen's, Ozpin spoke, "Glynda, please take the members of teams RWBY and NNPR back to their rooms. Naruto...stay, I wish to speak with you."

"W-What!?" came the shocked cries.

Although she wasn't happy about it, and just as surprised as her students, Glynda listened to the headmaster and managed to corral the other teens with her into the elevator despite their arguments.

When the doors of the elevator closed, Ozpin finally tore his gaze away from Naruto's, turning his chair so it faced the bright sun of a new day, "So you believe war is coming."

"I know it is. This isn't some way for the White Fang to show a little muscle, they intend to wage a full scale war on Vale, and Roman Torchwick has supplied them with enough Dust and weapons to do it," Naruto answered with a frown.

"Years of peace coming to an end due to the poor treatment of a people who have no choice in what traits they are born with. It is not something I wished to ever see," Ozpin intoned, a hint of shame and sadness coloring his voice.

"Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to pain and death. Pain sparks the fires of revenge which only leads to more hate and death, continuing the cycle," Naruto bit out, recalling the vicious cycle of death and hatred that had consumed the Shinobi era since it's birth with Indra and Ashura.

Ozpin only seemed marginally surprised by the words of wisdom before recollecting his thoughts, "Naruto Uzumaki. I have a very important mission for you."

The blond Jinchūriki quirked an eyebrow.

* * *

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

The wind gently whistled through the leaves and grass, carrying with it a cool breeze.

Inhale. Exhale.

A squirrel busied itself by attempting to make its tree top home even more comfortable while searching for any food that was readily available.

Inhale. Exhale.

Meanwhile, on an entirely different tree, a bird sang a sweet melody, calling out to any who would listen.

Inhale. Exhale.

Naruto's heart thrummed, slowly and purposefully to the beat of the life around him, his senses stretched far beyond that of what most "normal" people could accomplish. However, this was as easy a task as walking to the blond after having studied under the toads of Mt. Myōboku.

But, this was not a meditative exercise meant to help his Sage training, no, it was for something else entirely.

Without so much as a twitch or hitch in his breathing, the blazing orange shroud of his Bijū cloak sprang to life, writhing and swaying like a living fire, though it lacked its usual ferocity.

Like a snake slithering along a tree, a single tail bubbled into existence, performing a slow hypnotic dance to an unheard rhythm.

Following it was another tail, seamlessly syncing itself to the rhythm of the other chakra limb. Soon after a third tail followed, the energy shroud turning a darker shade of orange at the same time.

Inhale. Exhale.

A fourth tail sprang to life.

Inhale.

A fifth followed it.

Exhale.

Then a sixth.

It was at this point that a slight frown appeared on Naruto's face.

The fourth tail of Kurama's chakra was usually around the point that he was consumed by the rage and instincts of his Bijū's chakra. Even after improving his relationship with Kurama and the Bijū stating that the acidic qualities of his chakra should no longer be a problem after becoming "whole once more", the memories of what he had done while under the influence of the chakra were hard to shake off.

Had Jiraiya not been an extremely powerful ninja and seal master, he wouldn't have gotten away with a few scars on his chest. Sakura could very well have been fatally maimed had it not been for Yamato-sensei and his Mokuton _(Wood Release)_ jutsu.

Still, this whole exercise was to prevent any of that from being a problem any more. This was to grow even stronger so that, come whatever may, he was ready and able to protect those close to him.

That wasn't to say that he didn't think they couldn't defend themselves. Far from it. Team RWBY and his own teammates had proved time and again that they could hold their own extremely well. However, they were no longer dealing with just Grimm and some thugs.

Even if Kaguya herself was no longer around, whatever echoes of her and her plans that still lingered would no doubt be far beyond what was "normal", even for him and his friends.

So, with a frown of concentration, Naruto pushed himself.

For a moment, nothing seemed to change. There was no explosion of power or anything. Not even so much as a shift in the wind or a change in the still swaying chakra cloak.

Inhale.

The cloak flickered, parts of it shifting and changing in small, almost imperceptible ways. The most noticeable change was its color. Instead of a burning shade of orange, it began to glow in hues of gold.

Exhale.

* * *

"Ugh! We're not even halfway through the semester and I'm already over all these classes!" Yang complained, throwing herself into a nearby chair.

Pyrrha giggled at the blonde, "Unfortunately we all can't make clones and send them to class like Naruto does."

"He's been playing hookie!? Without us!?" Yang exclaimed.

"Considering he learns everything his clones do, I don't think it can technically be considered hookie," Ren commented offhandedly.

Blake, ever the curious one, asked, "Any reason he's been doing it?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "He said that he and Kurama were training."

"Isn't he already super strong?" Ruby asked aloud.

"Naruto isn't someone who is satisfied with good enough. We've seen his training regimen and he pushes himself to the point of exhaustion most times," Ren remarked with a tint of admiration to his voice. Despite his childish tendencies, Naruto took his responsibilities as team captain very seriously and did all he could to improve, which was something Ren could admire.

Nora nodded and spoke around the mouthful of food in her mouth, "Yeah, he even beat me in a pushup contest!"

"Hopefully he isn't pushing himself too far," Blake commented, a hint of concern coloring her voice.

"After the last time, Whiskers knows better," Yang grinned, putting a fist to her open palm.

Ruby recalled how terrified the older teen had been of her sister and Pyrrha after that whole episode and giggled to herself.

"Well, I'm just glad that with the dance coming up soon, we'll all have some time to relax after everything that's happened this past year," Weiss added.

"Oh yeah! Isn't team CFVY in charge of it this year?" Yang added.

"In charge of what?" A familiar voice interrupted.

Smiling, Pyrrha happily made room for Naruto as he slid into the seat next to her and answered, "Coco and her team are in charge of setting up this year's dance."

Naruto quirked a brow, "Dance? What dance?"

"The one that's happening in a few weeks," Weiss quipped sarcastically.

Naruto could only blankly stare at the heiress, still completely lost, "...what?"

"Did you not have dances during your time?" Pyrrha questioned.

The whiskered Jinchūriki shrugged and joked, "Not that I can remember. Was a little more busy with the whole 'people after the Bijū in me' thing."

The others sweatdropped, "Fair point."

Situating herself next to her fellow blonde, Yang cheekily grinned, "Well Whiskers, let me educate you on what all the hubbub is about."

"Uh, maybe we should let someone else do that," Blake commented, her voice carrying a slightly worried tone to it.

Wrapping an arm around team NNPR's captain, Yang teased, "What? It's not like I'd dare corrupt Whiskers or anything."

'_Sorry Yang, Ero-Sennin already beat you to that,' _Naruto mentally lamented.

Kurama snickered, recalling that particular incident. Prior to their coming to Remnant, it was probably the only time that the Bijū had happily lent out his chakra to his host.

"I think I can handle it," Pyrrha spoke up, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

However, Naruto didn't hear his friend's declaration, instead distracted by something he had seen from the corner of his eye. With a frown on his face, the blond stood up, "I'll see you guys later. I have something I have to do."

Without a word more, the Jinchūriki was racing out of the lunch hall, leaving behind some very confused and worried teens.

* * *

"My, sneaking up on a helpless maiden? How bold of you."

Naruto snarled, "Cut the crap Cinder."

The amber eyed woman smirked and turned to address the blond standing just behind her, "Why so hostile?"

"Because I know what you have planned and I'll be damned if I just sit back and watch it all go to hell," the blond bit out, blue orbs glaring into amber ones.

Cinder didn't seem at all put out by his declaration, if anything, she seemed almost happy. The raven haired seductress moved to stand inches away from Naruto, looking up into his ever expressive eyes filled with equal parts anger and confusion, "Oh Naruto, I've told you what my plans are, why I'm doing all of this."

This only served to infuriate Naruto even more, "Don't you dare lie to me. You told me you wanted peace, that you wanted to expose the dark secrets being kept from everyone. What I saw was you gearing up for a war!"

"And that is still my plan, but this is only to ensure that it succeeds." Suddenly, an uncharacteristically serious look crossed Cinder's face, "Do you think those who hold all of the power will just let it go quietly? No, they will fight tooth and nail to keep their game of chess a secret. I may be getting ready for a war, but I won't be the one who starts it."

Naruto clenched his fists. He had come prepared to confront Cinder and hopefully come to a solid conclusion on how to proceed with his dealings with her. Instead, he found himself just as unsure as he been previously, if not more so.

The blond grit his teeth in frustration. Mind games and subterfuge were just not his strong suit.

"I promise you Naruto, you'll soon see my plans come to fruition."

With that as her final words, Cinder sauntered away, a confident smirk on her face, leaving a frustrated Naruto behind.

'_Any advice Kurama?' _Naruto mentally exhaled.

'_Continue to prepare for the worst. We both know she's up to something more here, we just don't know exactly what it is and until we do, discretion will be the smarter plan,' _the ancient chakra mass answered.

'_I hate just waiting around for stuff to happen though! It's so boring!' _Naruto moaned, folding his hands behind his head.

The Bijū rolled its eyes, _'Yeah, well go complain to someone who cares, I'm going back to sleep.'_

'_Lazy furball,'_ Naruto groused.

* * *

Blake winced, feeling her entire body scream in agony with every move she made. Despite the pain though, she bore a determined grimace, her amber eyes glaring straight ahead at her sparring partner.

With a grunt of pain, she stood to her feet and aimed the twin blades of Gambol Shroud at Naruto, "Again!"

Seeing the raven haired teen's breath coming in ragged gasps and the obvious pain she was in, the blond frowned, "Blake, I think we're done for today."

"No! I know you can keep going and-"

"Blake!" Crossing the clearing to stand before the barely standing Faunus, Naruto took both parts of Gambol Shroud despite Blake's weak protests, "I know why you're doing this, but driving yourself into the ground isn't the right way to go about this."

Slightly bitter, Blake glared at the blond, "But it's ok for you to do it?"

The whiskered teen frowned before turning around and stepping away from her. Realizing just how harsh that had come out, Blake made to apologize only to have her breath catch in her throat as the fiery cloak of Kurama's chakra blanketed Naruto's form.

Expecting to feel the usual suffocating pressure of malice and hatred, Blake was shocked when she instead felt...warm. She was also feeling extremely relaxed, so much so that she was honestly having to fight down the urge to purr.

She was further surprised when two more tails of chakra sprung from Naruto's backside. Watching the three chakra limbs sway, slightly mesmerised by their hypnotic dance, Blake's eyes widened when they converged to form a cone of sorts. At the point where they all joined, a small, extremely condensed ball of chakra began to form.

What she saw next had her jaw on the floor.

Naruto grabbed the ball of chakra and swallowed it whole.

Silence engulfed the clearing for a moment, the world seemingly just as surprised as Blake was by what had just happened. Looking unnaturally calm considering what he just did, the Uzumaki Jinchūriki proceeded to open his mouth wide.

The former White Fang member was then nearly thrown onto her ass when a gargantuan beam of pure chakra was shot from Naruto's open maw. The surrounding area was practically laid to waste from the backlash of the attack alone, the ground around Naruto collapsing in on itself under the pressure while the air began to sizzle from the heat of it.

Even the sky itself was seemingly parted by the technique, a vast swath of clouds being vaporized by the beam.

Letting the attack peter out, Naruto turned around, looking just as relaxed and energized as he usually did.

"That was barely a drop in my reserves," the blond stated, the Bijū cloak receding.

"W-Why?" Blake asked simply, still reeling from the display of raw power she had just seen.

Naruto answered calmly, "To prove a point. Like I've told you before, the Uzumaki clan was known for our insane stamina and huge chakra reserves. Plus I have Kurama's chakra to draw on? I can train myself into the ground because my body can and will just heal from it and keep me going after a nap. You can't say the same."

"But we can't just sit around doing nothing! We both saw what the White Fang are planning! The others don't realize it, but we both know better!" Blake exclaimed, a frenzied look in her eyes. Looking down, the raven haired teen clenched her fists, "They...they don't know what it's like out there, what it's like to have blood on your hands."

Naruto engulfed Blake's smaller form in a tight hug.

"You're right, the other's don't know what war looks like, what it means to take another's life," Naruto softly intoned. Pulling away enough to see the watering amber eyes of his friend, the blond continued, "But that doesn't mean they're ignorant to it, that they don't know the kind of world we live in."

Taking a deep breath, Blake collected herself and began to wipe away the few tears that had slipped, "I...guess you're right."

Grinning smugly Naruto poked the Faunus in the side earning a yelp of surprise, "What was that?"

Blake rolled her eyes, "You were right and I'll try and take it a little easier."

Naruto gave an over the top laugh, "gloating" about his supposed victory. All the while Blake giggled at the blond's dramatics. Opening her slightly teary eyes, the young teen stared deeply into the bright ocean pools of her friend, someone she honestly cared for deeply. Don't get her wrong, she cared for and even loved her teammates like sisters, but with Naruto, it was a little different.

He understood her and her troubles, because he had gone through similar hardships. But he didn't just let her vent her problems nor did he simply solver her problems for her. He gave her the tools and words she needed to do it herself, to stand on her own two feet and that was something she found invaluable.

Amber gazed into sapphire with no small amount of happiness and gratitude.

* * *

'_That had to have been Naruto! But why would he have used such a powerful attack?' _Pyrrha's mind raced.

While the others had attempted to soothe her worries, the redhead just couldn't help but to worry about her blue eyed partner, which was the reason for her currently racing through the Emerald Forest.

Hearing the sound of familiar laughter caused her to slow her pace and eased her mind. Walking at a much more sedate pace, Pyrrha allowed a smile to cross her face as she saw a familiar shock of blond hair peeking through the foliage.

As she was about to call out to her friend and partner, a much more feminine laugh caused her to pause.

Pyrrha's smile dropped slightly when she saw the raven haired Faunus of team RWBY locked in an embrace with her partner. That foreign feeling of jealousy tugged on her heart, but the Invincible Girl was quick to bury the proverbial green beast.

Then the two began to stare into the other's eyes, the remnants of their laughter still lingering on their features.

A pit of dread filled her suddenly and that ugly green beast was back with a vengeance.

Then she saw it.

Blake stood on her tiptoes, closed her eyes, and began to lean in.

That's all Pyrrha could stand to see. Without another glance back, she was racing back to the dorms.

* * *

"Which one looks better?" Weiss near demanded, presenting two similarly colored sheets of paper.

Naruto scratched his cheek, "Uh...they both look the same?"

The Schnee heiress rolled her eyes, "Ugh, boys." Turning, she addressed Ruby and posed the same question.

Ruby, having been busy cramming cookies into her mouth, looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "Uhh…"

Weiss huffed, "I don't know why I even bother!"

The two team captains shared a look before bursting into laughter.

Still chuckling, Naruto turned to look at the small army of his clones being ordered around by both Weiss and Yang as the two teens ran around attempting to prepare the hall for the coming dance.

Originally their friends in team CFVY had been the ones in charge of the whole affair, but the older team had yet to return from their latest mission which had the wheels of the rumour mill turning.

Part of Naruto had been slightly worried, but he had seen first hand just how skilled each member of CFVY was, so those were quickly laid to rest. Then came the satisfaction of him not being the one involved in a mission being bumped up in danger. Felt good to be on the outside looking in.

But with the older teens still out, there was no one left to prepare for the big dance which meant it could very well be cancelled, something Yang and Weiss were vehemently against. As such, the two had taken it upon themselves to organise the event.

Of course this also meant that Naruto had been "persuaded" to help as well. The blond was quick to shunt that work onto an army of Kage Bunshin though.

"Sooo, any idea who you're going to ask to the dance?" Ruby asked, genuinely curious. While she wasn't the type to get involved in the love lives of her friends or anything, even she could clearly see that her fellow captain had plenty of girls vying for his attention. How he himself failed to realize this was a mystery.

'_Not like, Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang hide it well,' _Ruby giggled to herself.

The whiskered teen shrugged, "Eh, I don't think anyone would be all that interested in going with me. Figured I'd just spend it hanging out with everybody."

"...really? Not gonna ask Blake or Pyrrha?" Ruby sweatdropped, amazed by just how dense Naruto was.

The blue eyed Jinchūriki gave another shrug, "Nah, they've both kinda been avoiding me 'cause of their dates."

Now that sparked the younger teen's curiosity. It was clear as day to almost the entirety of Beacon and even some of the visiting students from the other three academies that the raven haired Faunus and red haired Invincible Girl were infatuated with the spiky haired captain of team NNPR. Who else could they possibly be going with and why would they both be avoiding Naruto?

"That's surprising," Ruby half mumbled to herself.

"Why? Blake and Pyrrha are great, I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner!" Naruto grinned.

The cloak wearing captain laughed, leave it to Naruto to be so bluntly honest.

"Well, I don't have a date either. Why don't we go together? You know, as friends?" Ruby offered with a slight blush. As platonic as it was meant to sound, she was still asking a boy on a technical date, even if he was her best friend.

Naruto grinned, "Sure! Sounds like fun!" The Shinobi turned Huntsman then began to chuckle sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, "But, I, uh, don't exactly know what to do at a dance or anything."

The silver eyed Huntress to be gave a bright smile, "Neither do I!"

The two shared another laugh.

Off to the side, Yang spared the pair a glance and smiled.

Weiss did the same, though she gave one of her signature eye rolls. Despite that, a small smile could still be seen on the heiress' face.

* * *

**AN: **Alright! Yes I know it's been...a month...or two since I've updated and I apologize but real life became very busy. More recently my long time internet friend from Australia actually came over to spend most of this month with me and another one of our friends so I took some time off work to be with them. As such, exploring all the fun touristy stuff So Cal has to offer as well drinking lots of alcohol has led me to not being able to even really touch this.

Then there was RWBY Vol. 4 hype and everything. Yes, again, I am an RT Sponsor (or First is what it's called now) so I literally just watched the first episode. Actually, not gonna lie, just got done watching it for the third time.

IT IS SOOOO GOOOOD.

I was screaming and shouting through the damn entirety of it. As usual, if anyone wants to discuss things, shoot me a PM. Wish I could do what a bunch of RWBY Youtubers have done and do a podcast to nerd out over every little thing. Hmm.

By the way, anyone else find Salem super hot? Like she's evil and all, but...damn. Fear boner anyone? HAHAHA

**IMPORTANT THING. SUPER IMPORTANT**….sorta.

Seeing as how there's been some people really requesting this, I'm using this to put out a formal request to my fellow authors and fans to have a reading style fic done of this here story. Yes, I know BlackMagicc622 was doing just that, but he has chosen to take a break from it to pursue his own original ideas which I have absolutely no problem with. He may pick it back up at some point, but that may be a while from now and plenty of you have been asking for this to be done.

I'm somewhat of a new hand at this all, so no real idea how to approach this. If any of you have maybe a recommendation on who you think could do a well done reading of this, feel free to let me know and I'll get into contact with them. Or hell, if you want to try your hand at it, contact me!

My only real conditions for it would be:

1) the author HAS to know RWBY well. Not necessarily be as obsessed as I am, but be familiar with the world, the characters, and the story. Needless to say this goes for Naruto and his world as well.

2) I want it done well. By this I mean I want it to have proper grammar, make sense, and have a cohesive flow. Doesn't have to be perfect, lord knows this story isn't, but I don't wanna sit there rearranging words and letters in my head to make sense of it all.

3) Gotta be predominantly the RWBY cast, so teams RWBY and JNPR. If you wanna throw CFVY, Ozpin, Qrow, or fuck even Cinder, in there, that is up to you. Same goes for Naruto. But keep it MOSTLY RWBY characters.

And that's it. Those are really my only conditions. Before anything, if you plan to try this please message me first as I'd like to see a rough draft of your style and such.

Also, yes I know this chapter was super short, but for what I have planned for the dance, it's gotta be its own chapter entirely.

Besides that, I was MIA for awhile there and was trying hard to get this out before Vol. 4 premiered. So this serves as both a new chapter-ish as well as a PSA of sorts.

To make up for it being short, here is the return of something a lot of you have been requesting as well!

* * *

(**Omake #6: **Moe Wars II: Second Crusade)

Tears fell to the ground, splashing on the cold marble of the lunch hall floor.

"Please, you can't leave me. I LOVED YOU DAMNIT!"

Clutching his friend and partner close to his chest, the Beacon student wept.

This tragedy was sadly not uncommon on this dark day, similar cries echoing in the ravaged lunch hall.

There had been no warning. It had come just as quick as it had last time and no one had been unawares, many a student had become a victim to the horrors.

The visiting students from Shade, Haven, and Atlas were wholly unprepared for it and many of them had fallen as well.

"But you said you would take me to the dance!" Ruby cried, her silver eyes wide and watery, tears threatening to spill.

As her lower lip shook, many more students fell.

"ARGH! TOO MUCH MOE GARBAGE!"

Neo grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled his attention to her. Her now twin pink orbs bore into his soul like an arrow to the heart in the ruins of Ozpin's office as Vale was besieged.

Wait.

Where the hell had that come from?

Weird.

Shaking off that oddly specific thought, Naruto struggled as he tried his hardest to not cave into the blinding cuteness that Neo was shooting at him.

"...maybe we should help him?" Ren asked unsurely, somewhat worried for his friend and captain.

Next to him, Nora vigorously shook her head as she grabbed another handful of popcorn out of a comically large container that she got from...somewhere.

Yang agreed, "Yeah, he survived last time! He'll be fiiiine." Sparing a quick sidelong glance at Nora and her tub of popcorn, the busty brawler continued, "Hey, let me get some of that yeah?"

Ren sighed. Next to him a random Shade student fell over clutching his heart and foaming at the mouth when Ruby's eyes began to sparkle...somehow. Unfazed, the raven haired teen gave a quick prayer for his captain's sanity before grabbing a handful of popcorn from Nora.

May as well enjoy the show right?

"WHY ME!?"

* * *

**AN: **Hope that at least somewhat makes up for the short chapter! Also, yes, some RWBY Chibi and Dumb RWBY comic stuff may make their way into an Omake in the future.

Have a good one ya'll!

Peace out.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: **I love you guys. I really do haha. I appreciate the fact that so many of you were quick to point out that this story is actually the top in favorites and follows, something I honestly didn't know. That is completely bonkers to me.

And the reason for that is all of you. Man, I could've never imagined anything I created (even if it is using fictional worlds not belonging to me) would ever be so...known.

That said, I'd like to do something I should do more often: give a few shoutouts.

First, if ya'll haven't seen, my fellow author, pain17ification, has started their own Naruto x RWBY story. I've honestly been a fan of the guy's for awhile and this story is just as well done as his other stuff so go check it out. Completely different premise, but well executed and entertaining.

Another author you should check out is Mudsaur. Dude was kind enough to point out some flaws that I let slip, offered some advice, and is a damn good author in his own right. His only story is a Naruto x DxD cross, but it's a damn good one, 'nough said.

Gotta give a special shoutout to TrollerBear who is another damn good writer with two extremely entertaining stories of his own. The reason his shoutout is special is because he's decided to take on the task of penning a reading style fic of this one. God have mercy on his soul for having to deal with me and those early chapters haha.

It's been awhile since I've done a Q/C/C thing, but that's mostly because the questions these days have more to do with where the story is going and can be answered by the story itself without me needing to really explain anything.

That said, there was A LOT of confusion about last chapters events with Pyrrha, Blake, and Naruto. Which is actually good. I was actually aiming for that. Why? Well, this chapter will hopefully answer any and all of those questions!

Before that though, quick little disclaimer: Any songs named/mentioned do not belong to me, they belong to their rightful creators and labels, I am only using them for entertainment purposes.

Let's get on with it!

* * *

Naruto took the time to look himself over in the mirror, scanning the suit he had donned for any imperfections. Sure he and Ruby weren't going as couple, but Yang had made it very clear that he was to be on his best behavior and show her little sister the time of her life.

The blond teen shivered remembering those frightening red eyes as they bore into his soul.

And people thought his Bijū cloak's red eyes were scary.

Regardless of Yang's "advice", he genuinely wanted to make sure Ruby had as much fun as was possible. After all, she was his first real friend at Beacon and was someone he cared for and was proud to call one of his precious people. He'd do almost anything for her.

With a grin of determination, the blond team captain gave himself one last glance over. Black suit all pressed out and spotless? Check. Dark orange tie straightened and tied properly? Done. Mop of blond spikes he could never control? Well that was as good as he was getting it so, check!

With that done he turned to address the only other person with him, "Ready to go Ren?"

The long haired teen checked his maroon bow tie one last time before giving a nod, "Good to go."

The two bumped fists and strode out into the well lit courtyard, waiting for their respective dates.

Looking around at the decorative lights and streamers hanging from the light posts and bushes, Naruto whistled, "Yang and Weiss really outdid themselves."

Ren nodded, "They did an excellent job, though it helped having an army of your clones to order around."

The whiskered teen chuckled, recalling some of the memories he had gotten from said worker clones.

However, before the two could continue their admiration of Yang and Weiss' decorative skills, their eyes were drawn to the two young women now standing a few feet from them.

Ren smiled when he laid eyes on Nora. The outgoing teen had stuck with her usual colors and themes, donning a simple yet elegant pink, strapless dress. The top half was a darker shade of pink and formed into a heart shape while the lower half was an almost white coloring and ended just above her knees.

Her heels clicked on the concrete as she walked up to Ren with a wide grin and grabbed ahold of his arm, already dragging him along, "C'mon Ren! We gotta show everyone our sweet moves!"

Naruto chuckled at the pair before turning his gaze to his own date for the night. To say he was stunned was an understatement. Dense he may be, but even he knew that Ruby was a very attractive girl. While she was two years younger than everyone at Beacon, she didn't exactly look it. In fact she was just as…"developed" in curves as her teammates and the dress she was wearing made that all very clear.

Like Nora, Ruby's dress was a simple one piece that ended above her knees, but in a much darker red color. The younger teen had also tied a sizeable piece of black fabric around her waist, the ends of it dangling off to her made Naruto blush slightly was the split in the dress that revealed a tasteful amount of cleavage, though the split was criss crossed by black thread. Her upper chest and collar were covered by black mesh that seemed to be a part of the dress.

Fiddling with her fingers, Ruby blushed as Naruto gave her a once over. This was far from being what she would normally wear, but considering tonight was a special night, she figured it was time to try something new. That and Yang had practically begged her to.

"You look great Ruby," Naruto admitted with a grin.

The younger teen smiled and gained back some of her usual confidence, "You clean up pretty good too Naruto."

The two captains shared a laugh before Ruby walked up to Naruto and grabbed his arm...well that was the plan. Instead the scythe wielder stumbled a little, though Naruto was quick to steady her.

"You ok?" The older of the two asked, genuinely concerned.

Ruby huffed, "It's these stupid clown shoes!"

Naruto chuckled when he realized that Ruby apparently could not walk in the heels she was wearing, "So you can balance yourself on Blake's ribbon using Crescent Rose, but can't walk in heels?"

Ruby pouted, "I'll show you mister!"

With another laugh the two began the walk to the hall where the dance was being held.

* * *

"Ohmygosh! You two look so adorable together!" Yang gushed as Naruto and Ruby walked into the hall, arm in arm. Noticing that her younger sister was actually clutching onto her date, Yang barely stifled a giggle, "Having some trouble there Rubes?"

Ruby glared at her sister, "It's your fault I'm wearing these stupid things!"

Not able to hold it in anymore, Yang, scooped her sister into a hug, "Oh, but you just look so beautiful!" Putting her sputtering sister down, the blonde brawler turned and gave Naruto an approving once over, "And you don't look too bad either, Foxy."

Rolling his eyes at his fellow blond's usual flirting, Naruto replied, "You look pretty good yourself, Firecracker."

And he was being honest. Although Yang's simple all white dress wasn't as flashy or revealing as her usual clothes, it did nothing but accentuate her natural beauty.

Ruby gave the Jinchūriki a playful punch to his shoulder, "Hey! You're supposed to be my date mister!"

Yang sidled up to the taller blond and snuggled into his side while giving her sister a conspiratory look, "I don't know sis, I might have to take him for myself."

Ruby childishly blew a raspberry at her sister as she began to guide Naruto towards the crowd, the two blondes laughing all the while.

As the two made their way through the already dancing crowd, a familiar voice called out, "Ruby!"

Recognizing the voice, Ruby's face was instantly lit up by a bright smile as she turned and ran to hug her friend, "Penny!"

Naruto stood off to the side and smiled as he watched the two interact, _'Still don't know why Penny seems a little odd, but Ruby likes her so I guess it's not a big deal.'_

The whiskered Uzumaki was pulled from his thoughts when he sensed someone take up a spot to his side, "On bodyguard duty tonight too?"

Chuckling, Naruto shook his head and sheepishly admitted, "No, Ruby's actually my date."

Jaune was somewhat surprised, "Really? I thought you and Pyrrha were dating or something?"

Leveling a flat stare at his fellow blond, Naruto replied, "We told you we weren't back on that mission."

The Atlesian chuckled nervously, "Riiiight."

The group of four were interrupted when Nora blazed past, dragging Ren behind her and asking/demanding him to dance with her.

Struck by the idea, Naruto reached out and grabbed Ruby, surprising her. Seeing where she was gently being led, the young team captain began to blush and stutter, "Naruto! I don't know how to dance!"

Said blond only looked back and grinned, "It's fine, just trust me!"

Settling themselves near a slowly swaying Nora and Ren, Naruto placed his hands on Ruby's waist while the black and red haired teen unsurely wrapped her arms around her date's neck.

To Ruby's surprise, Naruto began to lead her in a slow two step dance, subtly holding her up and making sure she didn't make an absolute fool of herself.

After a few minutes of accidentally stepping on his feet, the two captains settled into a steady rhythm. Genuinely enjoying herself, Ruby curiously looked up at her date and asked, "I thought you hadn't been to a dance before?"

Naruto chuckled, "When I went on a three year training trip with Ero-Sennin, he tried to turn me into a super pervert like him. Of course I didn't want to end up like him or my other teachers so I refused any and all of his attempts. He eventually gave up, but insisted I at least know how to 'show a woman a good time'. Dancing was one of the things he taught me."

"Was he really that much of a pervert?" Ruby giggled.

Naruto gave her a flat stare, "He was known more for Icha Icha than his ninja career."

"Really!?" Ruby squeaked.

Chuckling, Naruto shook his head, "No, but it was close."

* * *

Her job done as the "receptionist", Yang smiled as she looked around at all the people laughing and smiling, students and teachers alike. Turning to her side, Yang wrapped an arm around her teammate, "You know, we did a pretty damn good job, didn't we Weiss?"

The Schnee heiress took in the sight of students from the four academies all mingling and genuinely enjoying themselves before nodding with a small smile, "We really did."

Spotting Naruto and Ruby sitting at a table with Ren and Nora, the blonde brawler grabbed the Schnee heiress and began to drag her to the table despite her protests, "C'mon! Let's go enjoy ourselves!"

* * *

Naruto nearly spilled his drink when Yang clapped him on the back before taking a seat next to him, "Whiskers!"

Weiss rolled her eyes but seated herself next to Ruby who cheered, "Weiss! Come to join your BFF?"

"No. Your barbarian of a sister dragged me here," The Schnee heiress huffed.

"Well that's just rude!" Yang pouted.

While he was still laughing, Naruto caught sight of a familiar flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Not having seen his red haired partner or really spent any meaningful amount of time with her recently, he was quick to excuse himself, "I think I saw Pyrrha, I'll be right back!"

At the mention of the emerald eyed warrior, Yang thought aloud, "I'm honestly surprised those two didn't come together." Realizing what she said, Yang was quick to turn to her sister and apologize, "No offense to you Rubes!"

The younger teen simply shrugged. While she was extremely happy that she had come to the dance as Naruto's date, Ruby also knew that there was no romantic feelings between them, and she was ok with that. Wasn't to say she didn't find the older blond attractive or anything, but he was just more like the older brother she had never had.

Thinking about it, Ruby giggled as she realized that Naruto could very well pass as her legitimate brother considering just how much he had in common with both her father and sister. She had no doubt that both her father and uncle would love the goofball if they ever met.

Meanwhile, Weiss threw her own two cents into the conversation, "If he hadn't come with Pyrrha, I would've thought he would at least come with Blake."

Ruby was the one to shed some light on the situation, "Naruto said that they had both been avoiding him the last few days, so he thought it was because they had gotten their own dates."

Everyone at the table face palmed.

"Idiot," the group of friends unanimously muttered.

* * *

Gazing at the star filled sky above, Pyrrha gave a heavy sigh, her mind and heart lost in an ocean of turmoil.

"Can't say I blame you for wanting some fresh air."

So lost in her thoughts, the red head couldn't help but jump in surprise at the sudden noise. Turning to see a familiar whiskered face, one she had gone out of her way to avoid these last few days, Pyrrha offered a small smile, though it lacked any sort of real warmth.

"Oh, yes, it was getting kind of stuffy in there."

Spotting the strained smile a mile away, Naruto frowned before moving to join his partner at stagazing, "Someone bothering you?"

Pyrrha's heart fluttered seeing the threatening look on her captain's face. It was a reminder of just how much he genuinely cared for her and showed that he was ready to squash anything that so much as bothered her. Still, recalling what she had seen that night in the forest, she was quick to clamp down on those feelings, "No, no one is bothering me."

Grinning ferally, Naruto crossed his arms, "Well your date better be treating you right or he'll have to deal with me, Nora, and Ren!"

Try as she might, the emerald eyed teen couldn't resist giggling at the cheesy bravado her friend was putting on. Collecting herself, Pyrrha shook her head, "Well, that won't be a problem, because I don't have a date."

All of Naruto's joking vanished as he was left dumbfounded by Pyrrha's confession, "What do you mean? How do you not have a date?"

"Simple, no one asked me," Pyrrha answered with a sad smile.

"There's no way someone didn't ask you. I've seen the fan mail, plenty of people would sell a limb to even get you to smile at them," Naruto insisted.

Recalling some of her more...enthusiastic fans and their letters, Pyrrha agreed, "True, but even still, no one actually had the courage to approach me. They never really do. And even if they had, I would've turned them down."

"Because they're not asking you, Pyrrha, they're asking 'The Invincible Girl'," Naruto added with a solemn look, remembering just how much his partner disliked the pedestal she had been placed on.

Pyrrha gave a beatific smile to the blond, "I've told you before, but Naruto, you really are one of the first and only people who I've felt so comfortable around. Ever since we were first partnered back during our initiation, you never once treated me like I was..better than you, that I was above you. You treated me like I was just...me."

Smiling by now, Naruto was ready to interject, but Pyrrha continued, the dam holding back her feelings having sprung a leak, "You're always encouraging me to better myself, you're there when I need you to be, you never judge me, or ask me to be anyone but who I really am. There hasn't been a moment since we've met that I don't cherish in some way. Even small talks about classes and homework mean so much more if it's with you."

Placing his hands on a near frantic Pyrrha's shoulders, Naruto smiled as the redhead started to collect herself, "Sorry, I...shouldn't have said all of that. Your date would probably be upset."

"Why would Ruby be upset?" Naruto asked, completely lost.

Pyrrha blinked, "Ruby? You're not here with Blake?"

The blond half Uzumaki raised a brow, now extremely confused, "No? Why would I be?"

"Aren't you and Blake dating now?" Pyrrha asked, just as confused as her partner.

Naruto blushed, "What!? No! Why would you think that?"

"I-I saw her kiss you that day you two were training in the forest together," Pyrrha stuttered out, now highly confused. Had she seen some kind of illusion? Or had Naruto rejected the cat Faunus' feelings?

* * *

"Blake!" Yang cheered, elated to see her raven haired partner walking up to join them. "About time you joined us!"

Blake rolled her eyes and took a seat with the rest of her team and some of the people they had befriended. Taking a brief glance at around the table, the amber eyed youth smiled as she saw all of her friends enjoying themselves and relaxing. Ruby was animatedly chatting with an equally enthusiastic Penny, Nora was trying to convince Ren to do something with her, and Weiss was surprisingly having a nice chat with Jaune of all people.

"Well, I figured I'd either come by choice or you and Naruto would probably hunt me down and drag me here," Blake quipped.

Yang just grinned, "Aw, you know us so well!"

"Blake!" Ruby cheered, taking notice of the last member of her team having joined them. "Can I ask you a question?"

Quirking a delicate brow, Blake shrugged, "Sure."

With her usual innocence, the young captain asked, "How come you've been avoiding Naruto?"

It took a moment for the question to fully register in her brain, and when it did, the teen Faunus was quick to blush and avoid any and all eye contact, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Yang couldn't help herself and teased, "Another failed attempt to flirt with Foxy? Told you, you're gonna have to just walk up to him and give him a good one right on the lips!"

Blake's cheeks turned an even darker shade of red as she mumbled to herself. At this point, everyone at their table was completely invested in the conversation and was pointedly staring at the Faunus.

"Come again?" they all asked.

Mumbling just loud enough to be heard over the music, Blake admitted, "I tried."

Everyone at the table was blown away by the normally introverted book lover's admission. Wide eyed, Yang grabbed her friend's hands in her own and nearly yelled, "What do you mean you 'tried'!?"

Growing increasingly embarrassed with all the attention, Blake smacked Yang's hands away and huffed, "The day he was helping me train in the forest! Naruto set me straight and helped me sort some stuff out.. We ended up hugging and...well...I couldn't help myself and went in for a kiss. But...I..um...I tripped…"

Silence.

Had it not been for the pulsing bass of the music and the sounds of the other attendees enjoying themselves, you could've very well heard a pin drop. As far as team RWBY and their friends were concerned though, the rest of the hall had faded into nonexistence.

Weiss, completely dumbfounded, managed to ask the one question everyone was attempting to get out, "What?"

Her bow drooping, Blake confessed, "I heard someone coming, got surprised, and ended up tripping. After that, I couldn't face Naruto."

Her explanation was met with equal amounts of barely repressed giggling and sympathy.

* * *

Pyrrha blinked in disbelief, "So, Blake tripped...and then ran away?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Yup. Was really weird honestly."

The absurdity of the situation finally sinking in, Pyrrha couldn't help herself, her whole body shaking as she laughed.

Not at all understanding why his partner was suddenly laughing so hard that her eyes were actually starting to water, Naruto could only chuckle unsurely, "Uh, you ok there Pyrrha?"

Wiping away the tears, the red haired beauty nodded, "Sorry, it's just I was being extremely...silly these last few days and worrying about nothing. I'm so sorry for avoiding you for no real reason."

Not one to hold a grudge, the whiskered teen shrugged before holding his hand out and smiling, "Well, I think you can make it up to me with a dance."

Pyrrha gave a bright smile as she slipped her own hand into her captain's, "I would love to."

Naruto blushed as he finally took the time to take in the sight of Pyrrha against the dim glow of the night. Dressed in a form fitting red gown that matched her hair perfectly while contrasting with her alabaster skin, a light hint of her usual eye shadow to accentuate her deep emerald green orbs, and her crimson tresses flowing in cascading waves down her back and around her face, Pyrrha was absolutely stunning.

"You look gorgeous," Naruto breathed out without even realizing it.

Pyrrha colored prettily at the compliment.

**Shine by Jeff &amp; Casey Williams**

Walking arm in arm, the pair caught the eye of almost the entirety of the hall as they walked onto the dance floor, matching the slow groove and melodious female vocals of the music almost perfectly.

Ignoring everyone and everything around them, the two began to sway to the soothing call of the vocals accompanied by the soft piano chords. Lost in the other's eyes, the pair found themselves in their own little world.

As the beat began to build, the rest of the students followed suit and began to dance with their own dates, flooding the dance floor once more.

Suddenly, an electronic drum fill kicked the song into full swing.

In a surprising move, Naruto grinned as he twirled Pyrrha around, the bottom part of her dress flaring out in a shock of red. The emerald eyed teen laughed as she and the blond abandoned their slow two step and began to move in sync with the now pulsing beat of the song.

"Since when could you dance like this?" Pyrrha managed to say over the roar of music and sounds of joy.

Naruto chuckled, "You pick up some weird things when you spend two years with an old pervert."

Elsewhere, Nora couldn't contain herself anymore, "This. Is. Happening!"

As Ren was about to ask his eccentric friend what she meant, he got his answer when he was pulled to his feet and dragged onto the dance floor, joining their smiling teammates.

"There's no way we're missing this!" Yang shouted, grabbing both Blake and Ruby by the hand and dragging them along.

Unprepared and caught off guard by her sister's actions, Ruby, in a panic, grabbed the closest thing to her. Unfortunately for Weiss, she just so happened to be sitting next to her partner and was thusly dragged along with the rest of her team.

Penny and Jaune shared a look before shrugging, deciding to join the two teams.

Pyrrha and Naruto were forced out of their own little world when they realized that all of their friends had joined them, smiles plastered across all of their faces, even Weiss'.

Forming a sort of loose circle, the group of friends was all laughs and smiles as they danced like fools, trading partners at random times. Even still, it was hard to miss the way Naruto and Pyrrha gravitated towards each other.

As the song crescendoed into its final movement, the pair found each other again, once more lost in their own world. Taking the time to really listen to the lyrics, Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at how perfect the song matched her own thoughts and feelings for a certain whiskered captain.

As the song came to a resounding and rhythmic end, the entire dance hall exploded into cheers of laughter and happiness.

Ignoring the explosion of noise, sapphire stared into emerald, untold amounts of genuine happiness and love conveyed in a way that could never be properly put into words. A bond built from mutual respect, unconditional trust, and a belief in the other.

"Pyrrha…"

"Naruto…"

While earlier the dam holding back her feelings had sprung a leak, that same dam had now collapsed in a rush of emotions. No longer able to hold herself back, Pyrrha placed her hands on whiskered cheeks, closed her eyes, and threw caution to the wind.

Gasps echoed throughout the now deathly quiet hall.

The feeling of a soft and luscious pair of lips gently, yet firmly, placed on his took Naruto by complete surprise, his eyes wide and his mind shutting down. However, as his mind caught up to the moment and took in all that was happening, a single moment of clarity struck the Jinchūriki, the pieces all falling into place.

'_Kami, I'm a moron.'_

Without another thought, Naruto wrapped his arms around Pyrrha's waist and pulled her closer, losing himself in the moment.

After a few seconds of enjoying the other's touch, the pair separated, emotion clear in their eyes.

The moment was broken when the previously silent crowd erupted into thunderous amounts of cheering.

"About damn time you two!" Yang exclaimed, wrapping an arm around the owlishly blinking couple. "We were almost ready to lock you in a closet until you guys actually confessed!"

"Yeah, and I would've won our betting pool too if we did," Weiss grumbled, handing over a fair bit of Lien to Yang who was wearing a cheshire grin.

"Darn it! Thought it would've been sooner," Nora complained as she also forked over some money.

"You guys were betting on us!?" Naruto and Pyrrha exclaimed.

"It was just a fun game of guessing between friends," Ren explained in his usual calm demeanor. However any sort of levity that his answer may have had was completely shattered when Yang took a portion of her apparent winnings and split them with the long haired teen.

"Ren!"

"Oho! My congratulations to you two young lovebirds!" Came the boisterous call of Professor Port.

"Yes! Truly a wonderful way to celebrate this evening!" Dr. Oobleck added.

Naruto and Pyrrha's jaws dropped when Yang took a portion of the money and passed it to the two teachers.

"Was everyone in on this!?" Naruto cried out in exasperation.

Those who had been a part of the "When are Naruto and Pyrrha finally going to confess?" betting pool began to look in random directions, some attempting to whistle innocently. Unfortunately, seeing as how most of Beacon's faculty and student body had partook in the betting, it only made the situation that much worse.

"You're all getting pranked for this," Naruto huffed.

* * *

"Well that was interesting," Mercury scoffed.

Raising a delicate brow as she adjusted one of her gloves, Cinder asked, "Oh? What was?"

Arms crossed and hiding the fact that he was talking to his boss through a hidden headset, the silver haired youth grinned, "Blondie and Ms. Invincible swapped saliva in front of everyone."

Rising from her crouched position atop a roof, the amber eyed seductress set her sights on her target, "You're right, that is interesting, though not unexpected. We'll deal with that later though. How much time to do I have?"

"You should try and be home by midnight."

Cinder smirked, "I'll keep an eye on the clock."

With an almost unnatural elegance, the raven haired woman began to make her away across the rooftops, careful not to make a sound.

* * *

Although she was having the time of her life with her friends, Ruby felt the need to step outside for some much needed air, all the dancing having caused her to work up a bit of a sweat.

Taking in the crisp night air with a small smile, the young teen quirked an eyebrow when she caught sight of something moving across the rooftops at a surprisingly quick pace. Unable to contain her curiosity, Ruby went to investigate.

* * *

Gathering her courage, Blake strode up to a laughing Naruto and tapped him on the shoulder, quietly asking, "Do you mind if we dance?"

Naruto grinned, "I'd be happy to!"

**Matches (Acoustic) by Aaron Richards &amp; Bret Paddock**

As the first few soft piano notes were played, Blake wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, Naruto putting his own hands on the raven haired teen's waist.

Without any words said, the two began to smoothly sway in place, slowly gliding across the dance floor and staring into the other's eyes.

By the time the mellow vocals joined the piano, the two had been joined by several others on the dance floor, moving in much the same manner.

Subconsciously moving to the pace of the song, Blake stared searchingly into Naruto's sapphire orbs, looking for something, a hint or a clue that could help put the hurricane that was her heart at ease. She needed something to tell her to either keep pursuing the blond or to concede to Pyrrha after their display of affection.

Completely unaware of his current dance partner's plight, his mind on other things, the blond Uzumaki was content enough to enjoy the moment and stared into Blake's eyes with all his usual warmth.

While she was focused on her search for answers, Blake couldn't help but listen to the deeply emotional lyrics that were being sung. Both the words themselves as well the melody of them struck a chord in the teen Faunus.

Internalizing the lyrics and sorting through the storm of her emotions, Blake was struck by something as both the piano and vocals began to grow in volume and passion. Looking into Naruto's blue orbs, she realized that she was too late. While he clearly cared deeply for her, someone had done what she had failed to.

In one heartfelt and completely revealing moment Pyrrha had thrown Naruto into the sea of her heart.

And he hadn't drowned. No, he had embraced the gesture and returned it.

While she had seen the two kiss and it had been obvious, even from afar, just how much pure emotion had been in the otherwise simple kiss, only now, as she looked into the Jinchūriki's eyes, did Blake see just how much the two had shared in that brief moment.

A feeling of jealousy began to roil in her. However, as she continued to look into Naruto's expressive eyes, she quickly came to another realization.

Sure, Pyrrha had done what she had tried to and happily taken the blond's heart into her hands, but that didn't mean the redhead was completely taking the goofy ball of sunshine from any one. It didn't mean that Naruto suddenly cared any less for her or that he cared any more for his partner, now girlfriend.

So, while Pyrrha now had a very special place in the blond's big heart, Blake still had her own as well.

It hurt to know that Pyrrha would get to enjoy all of the romantic gestures she longed to. Frankly it stung quite a bit. But that didn't mean that her late night talks with blue eyed teen would stop. It didn't mean that they would no longer be able to sit and enjoy a nice cup of tea every once and awhile.

It was those thoughts that eased the hurt.

Her heart ache somewhat soothed and content to enjoy the moment, Blake closed her eyes and leaned into the taller blond, resting her head on his chest and letting the thrum of his heart beat lull her.

Shifting his hold to embrace her, Naruto smiled and closed his own eyes, happy to share the dance with someone so dear to him.

As the song softly came to a close, the two separated. Sharing one last hug, Blake gave a somewhat strained smile and gestured to a waiting Pyrrha, "Probably shouldn't keep your girlfriend waiting."

Naruto blushed but nodded, making his way over to the redhead.

Blake jumped a little when she felt an arm wrap around her. Glancing out of her peripherals and seeing a familiar mane of blonde waves, the cat Faunus leaned into the embrace.

"You gonna be okay?" Yang asked in concern.

Looking on as Naruto and Pyrrha shared another short kiss, Blake sighed, "Eventually."

**Don't Want to Go by Nigel Good ft. Go Periscope**

As the DJ changed the mood of the dance floor by throwing on an upbeat and light hearted track, Yang grinned and tugged Blake with her, "C'mon! Nothing a good dance party couldn't help!"

With the lights flashing and pulsing along to the beat of the song, the dance floor erupted into laughter as students from each of the academies flooded the floor and began to move to the beat, smiles on each face.

Many began to laugh even harder as some of Beacon's professors joined in the fray, attempting to dance like their young charges, most failing to do so in a spectacular fashion.

Standing off to the side, Ozpin smiled as he looked on. This was the reason he did all that he did, to see so many cheerful faces simply enjoying themselves, ignoring things like who came from what kingdom or if you were a Faunus or not. It brought an immense warmth to his heart to see so much happiness being shared.

The silver haired headmaster was torn from his thoughts when a familiar voice spoke up, "Well, I think I've had enough fun for one night."

Taking a sip from his cup, Ozpin asked, "Not going to enjoy the rest of this?"

James Ironwood smirked but shook his head, "No, I think Professors Port and Panathenaia are having enough fun for the rest of us."

Chuckling as he too watched as the husky professor attempted to do some popular dance move or another, the bespectacled Headmaster nodded, "Yes, well I hope your dance with Glynda went well. Have a good night James."

Shaking his head at the enigmatic Headmaster's antics, the Atlesian General offered a casual wave, "Thank you and have a good rest of the night."

Watching the usually gruff General leave the party, Mercury frowned before whispering, "A party guest is leaving."

* * *

Sighing in exasperation, Cinder continued to tap away at the keyboard, her eyes scanning the screen as she did, "Who is it?"

Mercury's voice came through her earpiece in response, "Looks like the General has had enough fun for the night. Should we intervene?"

Wearing a satisfied smirk, Cinder replied, "No. We're done here."

That smirk quickly fell off her face though when the nearby elevator gave off a ding signifying that someone had arrived on the floor.

Quickly ducking behind a desk, the raven haired woman couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw the young captain of team RWBY wander in, her massive scythe at the ready.

Cinder's legs tensed, ready to reveal herself and combat the young teen, confident that she could easily subdue the younger woman. However, a flash of blond through her mind's eye brought back an all too recent memory.

While she had managed to coerce and trick Naruto into leaving her and her plans alone, if he found out that she had so much as looked at Ruby the wrong way, he would bring down the full might of him and his Bijū.

Remembering the pure malice that had almost drowned her the day she sparred with Pyrrha months ago was enough to stay her hand. Powerful as she was, she was no match for a Jinchūriki, let alone the jailer of the most powerful of the Bijū...at least not yet.

Grabbing one of the cartridges clipped to her belt, Cinder tossed it at a random corner. Using her power, she ignited the cartridge, causing an explosion that rocked the room and blasted a hole into both the wall and floor.

Ruby, having heard the sound of the cartridge hitting the ground, turned to investigate, but was met with a concussive blast of hot air and rubble.

Using the distraction granted to her, Cinder made a quick and silent escape, leaving behind a deeply confused Ruby.

* * *

A pair of laughs echoed throughout the otherwise silent and chilly night.

"Not so fast Naruto!" Pyrrha cried out, though her laughs made it clear that she was actually enjoying herself.

Naruto, carrying said redhead on his back, only laughed louder. Loving the sound of his partner's melodious laughs, the whiskered teen really began to pour on the speed as he leapt from tree branch to tree branch.

After a few minutes of making his way through the forest, Naruto spotted a particularly tall tree. Seeing the perfect opportunity for what he wanted to do, the blond began to make his way up the large tree using chakra.

Reaching one of the top most branches, Naruto settled both himself and Pyrrha on the outstretched tree limb. Knowing he didn't have to worry about being cold thanks to Kurama, he shrugged off his blazer and draped over the redhead's bare shoulders.

Grateful for the gesture, Pyrrha snuggled into the blond's side, further warming herself up.

Wrapping an arm around her, Naruto couldn't help but smile. Here he was amongst the quiet tranquility of a moon lit forest, a beautiful and amazing girl who saw him in a way he was honestly not used to wrapped in his arms. It was all so new, but in the best of ways.

That in mind, Naruto mustered up his courage and moved his arm away.

Feeling the loss of comfort, Pyrrha curiously gazed at her captain.

"Pyrrha?"

Sensing the unease, the redhead assured the blue eyed Uzumaki, "Whats wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto stared straight into Pyrrha's eyes, "When I first came to Remnant I was hurt, badly. But more than anything, I was angry and depressed that I had failed to protect my home and friends. I came to Beacon hoping I could find some answers and maybe even find a way back home. Eventually figuring out that, that was pretty much impossible, I was devastated. But then I remembered the great people I had met here, people who actually gave a damn about me."

Placing a hand on one of Pyrrha's smooth alabaster cheeks, Naruto cracked a grin, "And then there was you. From day one, you were on my side, there when I needed you to knock some sense into me or when I needed a shoulder to lean on. I guess, what I'm trying to say is-"

Seeing the amount of trepidation in the former shinobi's eyes, Pyrrha shook her head before moving to capture his lips with her own, stopping him from rambling any further. Pulling away from the lip lock, the redhead gave a small smile, "I feel the same way Naruto."

Naruto could only don a dopey grin and blush.

Pyrrha giggled at the dumb look on her captain, now boyfriend's, face, before snuggling back into his side, content to gaze out at the moon lit forest below, eager to face the future and whatever it brought together.

* * *

**AN: **Sooo, I would have had this chapter done by some time last week...if I hadn't bought Dishonored 2 and proceeded to throw about 27ish hours into it. Sorry.

That aside, THERE IT IS! Now will all of you stop bugging me about the pairing!?

I kid.

Really though, this was the hardest decision I had to make. But I'm pretty happy with how it turned out all the same.

For all of you who were cheering for Blake...sorry!

However I will say this...not everything is set in stone and just like in real life, things can change. Wink wink, nudge nudge, hint hint.

I'm not gonna spell out what I exactly mean by that, but just like the story, the characters and their relationships with each other can and will change and mature.

In RWBY news, HOOO BOY, THAT LAST EPISODE THOUGH. By that I mean episode 4, not the WOR. I won't spoil anything because I know most of you watch the episodes off Youtube and so are an episode behind, but ya'll need to prepare your butts. So much new and exciting info.

And I love the way RT have always handled world building and such. They don't just have characters blurt out their whole back story or anything. They don't just serve the info in out of nowhere monologues. The characters always talk in a very real and human way. Sure it leaves us searching and wanting to know more, but I like it.

Anyways, huge reminder to go check out TrollerBear's reading of this fic. I personally enjoy it and I know some of you have been asking for it. Show him some love!

That's all I've got to say for this one guys.

For those of you in the US, hope you all have a great Thanksgiving with your family or whoever you celebrate it with. Be safe out there!

Peace out!


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: **The response to last chapter was kind of what I figured it was gonna be with the whole pairing thing. Some were happy, some weren't, and there were even a few who bowed out of this whole venture entirely, which was kind of the reason I put it off for so long.

But we march onwards!

We are only 500 away from that next review benchmark and that's awesome as hell! And both follows and favs are nearing 4k? Well gosh diddly darn, that is just bonkers!

Friendly reminder to go check out TrollerBear for both his original stuff as well as the reading fic he's started for this. Personally a fan of his Son of Salem story, so go leave that one some reviews!

And if I'm giving shout outs, gotta give one to a Mr. KitsuneRose16 who has penned a very interesting Naruto x RWBY fic titled Summer Maelstrom. It's not without its flaws (what fic isn't?) but I found it a pretty entertaining read nonetheless so check it out if you're into it.

And since Chapter 4 finally dropped on youtube, FUCKING YES. FINALLY RAVEN GOT SOME SCREEN TIME. I may be in a minority, but I love Raven. Her design, both personality wise and physically, is easily one of my favorites. Also to find out that it was actually her and Qrow's clan (though Qrow left) that were the bandits responsible for the destruction of Shion village (the one RNJR visited back during Ch. 2) was surprising. Apparently, a bunch of the fans are also theorizing that Raven and her merry band of murderers are also responsible for Ren and Nora being orphans.

Really, Ch. 4 was one of those episodes that revealed a lot of info yet raised even more questions.

One of the chief questions on everyone's mind though is probably, "WHAT THE FUCK IS OZPIN DOING AS THE MAN IN THE MIRROR?"

...right. Anyways, let's get on with this chapter!

* * *

Ruby twiddled with her fingers as she stared down the angry/disappointed glare of her sister and fellow captain who had just found out about her little solo mission the night before.

Rubbing his temples, Naruto sighed out, "And you didn't call any of us why?"

"Cause I thought I could handle it," Ruby muttered.

"And what if you couldn't!?" Yang questioned, her worry for her baby sister spurning her on. As much as she knew that Ruby was not at all the same little girl from their younger years and that their uncle had groomed the partial redhead into a force to be reckoned with, Ruby was still naive and prone to making dumb decisions.

Watching as his fellow blond grilled her younger sister, Naruto couldn't help but wonder, _'Is this what Kaka-sensei and Ero-Sennin felt like when I made a stupid mistake?' _

'_Ha! You say that like you don't STILL make dumbass decisions!' _Kurama barked in laughter.

'_No one asked you, ya stupid ball of fur!' _Naruto childishly retorted. Getting only mocking laughter as a response, the blond came back to the current situation to see a sheepishly cowed Ruby.

Unable to deal with seeing the younger teen sad, Naruto caved and hugged the silver eyed captain before asking, "So what did you tell Ozpin and Ironwood?"

"I, uh, may have told them that I fought the person and that they hinted that there was something going on in the southeast," Ruby sheepishly admitted.

A surprised Blake was the one to speak up next, "Why would you do that?"

"Well, I know how much this whole thing with the White Fang and Torchwick has been bothering you, so I figured that if I mentioned it, they would send us out to investigate," Ruby answered with a smile.

Her raven haired teammate was rightfully surprised by the answer, "You didn't have to do that for me Ruby."

Weiss nodded, joining in, "And it was pretty risky considering you just lied to our own headmaster and Ironwood as well."

Ruby chuckled, "Funny, cause he actually congratulated me on 'Recognizing a threat, taking action, and doing the best you could'."

Having come to know what kind of leader and man the General was through his own brief interactions with him, Naruto could only sigh, "Sounds like something he'd say. Guy's all about action."

From her spot of leaning on her boyfriend, Pyrrha giggled, garnering everyone's attention, "Sorry, I just thought it was funny coming from you of all people."

Everyone shared a laugh at the blond's expense, realizing how hypocritical the Jinchūriki's statement had been.

"Pyrrha! You're supposed to be on my side!" Naruto whined, causing everyone to laugh even more.

Rolling her eyes at her fellow blond, Yang moved to the desk against the wall retrieving a cannister of some sort, "Well, I was going to give you this package that dad sent, but now that you lied to our Headmaster, I don't think you deserve it."

"Yang! Don't be like that!" Ruby cried, attempting to reach for the cannister while Yang easily kept her younger sister at bay.

As the two siblings "fought", Naruto had to quirk an eyebrow when he saw Kurama actually get up from his position on Pyrrha's lap, "What's up fuzzbut?"

As if to answer his question, Yang and Ruby's little quarrel caused the cannister to open, releasing a rolled up thing of fur. To everyone's utter surprise, the roll of fur popped open, revealing that it was actually a gray and white colored corgi who was happily wagging its tail.

Before anyone could question how bizarre it was for a dog to pop out of a small metal cylinder, Ruby happily cried out, "Zwei!"

Ren, completely flabbergasted, asked, "Your dad...sent a dog...through the mail?"

Yang shrugged, "Eh, he's always doing wacky stuff like this."

Blake, currently cowering behind Naruto, fearfully peeked out over his shoulder, "Your father or the dog?"

"It was one thing dealing with Kurama, but now this mangy mutt is going to…," Weiss' tirade slowed to a crawl as she found herself lost in the wide gray eyes of the painting corgi. After a brief staring contest, the Schnee heiress continued in a much happier tone, "live with us forever? Yes he is! Oh yes he is!"

It wasn't long until Nora joined the fray, happily playing with the little corgi.

"Ren! We need to get a dog!" the hammer wielder cried, holding Zwei in her arms with a pleading look.

Kurama rolled his eyes, "Pft. Don't see why everyone's so worked up over a dog."

Naruto, sensing his partner's jealousy, laughed, "It's alright Kurama, you're still special to me."

The Kyūbi scoffed, "Like I need your validation."

The whiskered teen shrugged before moving to greet the new furry guest.

Neither Yang or Ruby were surprised at how quickly Zwei was to take a liking to Naruto, both realizing how well the former shinobi would've fit into their family.

The group's play time was interrupted when the voice of Glynda came over the speakers in the hallway, "Would all first year students please report to the amphitheatre."

"Please tell me he's house broken," Blake asked, still eyeing the energetic corgi warily.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically, "Definitely! Zwei is a super smart dog!"

Arms slung behind his head, Naruto grinned, "Well, if anything Kurama can watch him."

The kitsune was quick to oppose the idea, "There is no way in hell you are making me babysit this...mongrel!"

"Pretty pwease Kurama?" Ruby pleaded, her eyes watering and her lip quivering with her hands clasped together.

The mighty Nine Tailed Fox lasted all of three seconds against the adorableness of Ruby's pout, "Fine! I'll watch the mutt!"

Naruto had a mini celebration at seeing someone else on the other side of Ruby's cuteness.

The group of teens began to make their way out of the room, though Blake had to hitch a ride on her laughing partner, leaving the two quadrupeds alone.

Kurama glared at the panting corgi, "I already hate you."

Zwei barked in response.

* * *

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the school this packed before," Ruby noted, seeing the intermixing of students from the visiting academies.

"Yeah, kinda reminds me of the Chunin Exams back home, you know, without all the death and killing intent," Naruto commented, remembering his first and only experience with the exams.

"We've said it before, but Foxy, your time was crazy," Yang added, the others quickly agreeing.

The temporally displaced Shinobi pouted, "It wasn't that bad!"

Pyrrha was quick to counter, "How many teams actually made it through those exams?"

Recalling just how few had managed to make it out of the Forest of Death, Naruto sweat dropped, "I still don't see your point."

The redhead gave her captain a flat stare.

Before anyone else could chime in, their Deputy Headmistress called out, "Quiet. Quiet please." Seeing she had everyone's attention, the blonde continued, "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

Aforementioned Headmaster calmly strode up to the mic, "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with who, but about the very idea of individualism itself."

The silver haired headmaster paused, taking in the look of the students gathered before him before continuing in a slightly more weary tone, "We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression, and, as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for."

Naruto, who had only recently begun delving into Remnant's past, tightened his fists at the idea of such a war. During his short, but extremely well travelled, shinobi career, he had personally fought against many tyrannical leaders who wished to shove the common man under their greedy thumbs.

Gatō, the disgusting shipping magnate, drug dealer, and smuggler who had drained Nami no Kuni to near desolation and broken its people down until they were too poor, weak, and hungry to fight back.

Dotō Kazahana, the greedy man who had not only staged a rebellion and killed his brother, but also kidnapped and attempted to murder his own niece, all in the pursuit of a treasure he knew nothing about.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg with Naruto. Come to think of it, he had gotten tangled up in several rebellions and wars throughout his career. Not to mention fighting literal demons like Mōryō.

'_Maybe Pyrrha had a point after all…'_

"As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself, color. It was their way to demonstrate that, not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come," Ozpin continued with a certain firmness to his voice. "And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity."

A feeling of pride and happiness began to reverberate throughout the hall as many of the young students realized just how much their names really meant.

'_Reminds me of how Ero-Sennin and Jiji would talk about the Will of Fire,' _Naruto recalled with a certain fondness. After all, it was those same teachings that had guided him through his life, serving as his moral compass and eventually becoming a foundation to his nindo.

"As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond can not exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it," the Headmaster concluded. As he continued, the students' eyes were drawn to the holograms that began to materialise to the sides, "As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week."

It was at this point that many of the younger students began to grow giddy with excitement, eager for the opportunity to show off what they were made of out in the field.

But Ozpin was not done, his eyes scanning across the many eager faces before him, "But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Applause met the conclusion of Ozpin's lengthy speech, though many were far more eager to check out the variety of missions displayed before them.

"This is perfect! All we gotta do is shadow a Huntsman who will be heading out to the southeast and then ditch them to go exploring!" Ruby cheered. While she got a round of agreements from her team, she was surprised to see a much more laidback team NNPR casually chatting with each other. Of course this piqued her interest as she would've thought that Naruto of all people would be as excited as her and her team, "Why aren't you guys as pumped as we are! We're finally getting do some real Huntsman work!"

Pyrrha chuckled at the young captain's enthusiasm, "Well this may be your first official mission, we've been doing them for months now, remember?"

Yang grinned and attempted to goad her fellow blond, "What? Not up for kicking bad guy ass Foxy?"

In an odd change of character, Naruto didn't rise to the challenge, folding his arms behind his head, "Not really. The last few days of getting to actually relax and train properly have been pretty great, so we decided to take a break which Ozpin ok'd."

Knowing that team NNPR had been going on a near constant stream of missions the last month or so and sympathising with a want for R&amp;R time, Blake offered a smile, "Well you guys do deserve a little bit more rest, enjoy it."

"We won't be resting for long though," Ren commented.

"Yup!" Nora cheered, "We got some serious training to do!"

"Good luck out there! And if you ever need backup, you know who to call," Naruto called with a grin and a casual wave.

With that, the two teams split, team RWBY off to find a suitable mission while the members of team NNPR headed to the nearest training room, eager to improve in any way they could.

* * *

"Suiton: Teppōdama _(Water Release: Liquid Bullets)_!"

Pyrrha grimaced as she could feel her left arm shake violently as the pressurised ball of water slammed into Akuo. Thankfully she had also had the foresight to use her Semblance to keep her anchored to the floor as well, otherwise the force behind the jutsu alone would've likely sent her careening into a wall.

Taking the opportunity, Nora leapt over her red haired teammate and made a dash towards Naruto, Magnhild trailing behind her.

However before the hammer wielder was able to get even remotely close to her captain, two more copies of the blond burst out from the ground below, ready to put a stop to her advance.

However, as quickly as they appeared, they were dispelled. One receiving a spinning Storm Flower to the head while the other was shot point blank by Ren who had appeared to aid his childhood friend.

In usual Naruto fashion, the Jinchūriki was quick to replace the fallen clones, easily creating a handful more.

Those were just as quick to fall though, Akoúo cleanly cutting through each of the dopplegangers like a buzz saw before returning to its owner's hand.

With a triumphant grin, Nora continued her charge, intent on finally scoring a hit on Naruto, who had so far managed to keep them at arms length thanks to an unending sea of clones and a bevvy of jutsu.

But now that was all gonna come to an en-!

Nora choked on her spit, unable to comprehend her current situation. Magnhild had not only been stopped dead, a feat she had never seen or thought anyone capable of, but Naruto had done it with his bare hands.

Even Pyrrha, who was able to control polarity, had never tried to stop the massive hammer/grenade launcher with her bare hands, seeing it only as a one way trip to the infirmary with every bone in her hands broken.

Still completely dumbfounded, Nora switched her gaze to meet her captain's, hoping to find some answers to the conundrum before her.

Seeing the twin pools of liquid amber staring at her answered all of her questions.

'_Oh cra-'_

Nora's thought process was violently interrupted when she was sent sailing through the air thanks to a powerful palm strike to the abdomen.

Neither Ren nor Pyrrha were given much time to process what they had seen, the blond moving on them in a blur of movement.

In the span of a few seconds, Pyrrha and Ren had joined Nora in a heap on the floor, all three groaning in pain.

Unsurprisingly though, Pyrrha was the only one to get back to her feet, grimacing as she did so.

With a determined fire in her eyes, she charged forward with a jab from Miló.

Naruto was easily able to swerve to the side of the jab, ducking under the follow up swing then flipping away in time to avoid having Akoúo smashed into his face.

But Pyrrha wasn't about to give Naruto any time to collect himself, already sprinting towards him with Miló held high above her head.

Naruto's eyes widened as he was forced to quickly bring his hand up to bat aside the incoming spear. Seeing Pyrrha rushing forward with Akoúo as a battering ram, the blond pulled his fist back.

A shock of air exploded outwards as fist met metal.

Her arm shaking under Naruto's superior strength, Pyrrha quickly used her Semblance to call Miló back to her, using its short sword form and going for a wide slash.

The Jinchūriki met the slash with a kunai, using the small knife to easily hold back the transforming weapon.

Having spent so much time around her blond boyfriend, Pyrrha couldn't help it when a mischievous smirk crossed her face.

Alarm bells were instantly blaring in Naruto's head when he saw the redhead's devious look.

Suddenly feeling every single piece of metal on his person grow exponentially heavier, he realized too late what his red haired partner was up to.

With a mighty pulse of her Aura, Pyrrha used her control over all things metal and "pushed" the whiskered Uzumaki away with enough force to send him careening into a nearby wall.

Groaning as he extricated himself from the crater he had made, Naruto couldn't help but let his mind draw similarities between what Pyrrha had just done and Nagato's Shinra Tensei _(Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)_. Though, Naruto doubted the Invincible Girl would ever be able to wipe out in an entire village with one fell use of the attack, it was still an impressive and ingenious use of her Semblance.

Shaking off the daze, Naruto chained together a set of hand seals then cupped his mouth, "Katon: Hōsenka no jutsu _(Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu_)."

Pyrrha spun out of the way of the first fire ball but quickly had to bring Akoúo up to defend herself from the several others that followed it.

Lowering her shield, the emerald eyed teen was prepared to launch her own offensive but was stopped from doing so when a shock of blond suddenly appeared in her field of view.

"Rasengan!"

Any plans she had were forcibly expelled along with the air in her lungs as the spinning ball of chakra was slammed into her abdomen before it unraveled and exploded, sending her flying across the arena.

Taking a deep breath and allowing his eyes to bleed back into their normal blue, Naruto moved to check on his team, "You guys wanna end it here?"

Nora and Ren only offered a flat stare while Pyrrha let out a groan of pain.

Naruto sweatdropped, "May have gone a bit overboard."

"You think?" Nora childishly retorted, using Magnhild like a makeshift cane.

"I'd rather be sore and bruised here than seriously injured out in the field though," Ren remarked, pointing out the reason for their training.

Feeling what was left of her Aura already numbing the pain and slowly healing her body, Pyrrha questioned, "But why did you not use your weapon?"

It was then Naruto grew slightly sheepish, "I'm still not all that great with using it. It'd be more like a handicap than anything."

That piqued Pyrrha's interest, after all, she had spent quite a bit of time helping the blond better his Huntsman skills, "But when we last sparred, you'd made huge improvements in using it."

"Can't you also use your jutsu with it?" Ren added.

Naruto gave a shrug, "Yes and no. I can use some pretty basic jutsu like the one I used back during initiation, but I still need to use handseals to perform a lot of my more powerful ones. And while I'm pretty good at using Hi no Ishi by itself, I'm still trying to figure out a way to really incorporate it with how I usually fight."

"So you're trying to essentially combine your shinobi and Huntsman training into one fluid style," Pyrrha concluded.

The whiskered teen nodded, "Easier said than done though."

"Well, we're always happy to help where needed," Ren offered.

"Yeah! I'd be happy to help whip you into shape!" Nora shouted with fires raging in her eyes.

Seeing the hammer wielder so enthusiastic about training gave Naruto flashes of horrid green jumpsuits, blinding smiles, and sunsets.

Pyrrha frowned in concern seeing her boyfriend shiver in what looked like a mix of fear and disgust, "Something wrong?"

Naruto forced a smile, "All good! And thanks Nora, but I think me and my clones can handle it."

Nora shrugged, completely oblivious to her captain's unease.

* * *

Naruto frowned in thought as he gazed at the shattered moon that hung almost ominously in the sky above, "Kurama?"

The chakra beast grunted, "Mmm?"

"Is it just me, or does it feel like something big is about to happen?" Naruto wondered.

The Kyūbi gave it a moment's thought before rousing from his resting, staring out into the horizon with a look of angry confusion, "No, it's not just you. A few moments ago I felt...something. I have no idea what in the world it could be, but it was almost as if a huge gathering of pure negativity...awakened."

"You're right," Naruto concluded, his eyes now a liquid amber. "But now it's gone. You think it could be her?"

Kurama shook his head, "No. Kaguya was just like Tou-sama and had an unmistakable aura to her. That, and while whatever it was felt old, it was nowhere near as old as myself or even you."

Naruto pouted, "Hey! I thought you said I'm still technically only seventeen?"

Resuming his previous position as a coiled up ball of fur, chakra monster shrugged, "You are. But you are also technically several hundred years old considering we're now in the future."

"...alright now you've lost me," Naruto admitted.

Kurama rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Ah! Another day of rest and relaxation! Just what the doctor ordered!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin. As much as he loved training and being active, Jiraiya and Tsunade had made sure he also knew how to take a break and enjoy himself.

Peering up from the copy of "The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" that Naruto had lent to her, Pyrrha smiled, "I must admit, getting some time to lay back and relax is quite nice."

Taking a sip from his cup of tea, Ren wholeheartedly agreed, "And it's a much deserved one as well."

"Though you two look really comfy there," Nora grinned, winking at Naruto and Pyrrha, the later of the two curled up against the former's side.

The red haired beauty blushed prettily and hid behind the book while Naruto scratched the back of his head, his own whiskered cheeks heating up.

As Naruto was about to retort, Kurama jumped up, surprising the four teens, "Massive amounts of Grimm are heading towards the city!"

"What!?"

As if to confirm what Kurama had said, the entire school was filled with the blaring sound of the kingdom's defense system going into high alert.

"Alert, incoming Grimm attack. Threat level six."

Without wasting a single second, team NNPR had leapt to their feet and were racing to don their battle gear. As one they sprinted out of their room, quickly making their way to a waiting Bullhead.

They were only marginally surprised to see several other teams already doing the same, several professors following suit.

As team NNPR was lifted into the air, Naruto stared into the namesake of the academy, somewhat surprised to see Ozpin standing there, readily matching the younger teen's stare. The silver haired head master simply gave a nod to the Jinchūriki, Naruto's features settling into a resolute and cold mask before returning the gesture, understanding exactly what had just been asked of him.

Ozpin trusted him and had given him a mission, one Naruto would not fail.

* * *

**AN: **I. Am. PUMPED!

You guys ready for next chapter? We have finally made it to the end of Vol. 2 and not only does that mean that next chapter will involve a ton of kickass battles, but it also means we are that much closer to Vol. 3 and the much awaited Vytal Festival!

An boy oh boy are there gonna be some BIG moves made during Vol. 3.

CAN NOT WAIT.

Also, how'd you guys like the little spar between Naruto and Pyrrha? I really do love her character but looking back, it was a bit of stretch to see her go toe to toe with Cinder at the end. Sure it was pretty clear she was far beyond all of the other students, but to suddenly be able to fight on almost equal footing with Cinder, a then fully realized Maiden?

I mean, it took Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald working together to take down the previous Fall Maiden, Amber. Even then, they had to rely heavily on some underhanded tactics to just barely win the battle.

So I kinda wanna show some more scenes like that and give a plausible background for Pyrrha being able to fight a Maiden.

In RWBY news, HOOOOO BOOOOOY. Qrow v Tyrion? I am all kinds of pumped, especially after the teaser RT dropped on their Twitter a few days ago.

And anyone else catch the fictional inspiration for Blake's father and the current leader of the White Fang? Ghira Belladonna? Sienna Khan? Ya know, like Bagheera and Shere Khan from the Jungle Book?

It'd make sense too if Papa Belladonna was a panther Faunus. Plus that would also explain why the White Fang is so anti-human, seeing how Shere Khan was an avid hater of man in the Jungle Book. Then there's the whole thing with Ghira having originally been the former leader of the White Fang when it was still just a peaceful movement.

IT ALL MAKES SENSE.

...sorry, my inner nerd got away from me there.

Anyway

Hope you all have a great holiday season! I may personally take a little hiatus from writing and this site to recuperate over the next few days. My store has me working crazy hours because of the holidays and I am frankly exhausted. Need to get some rest before I burn out or something, so if I go MIA for awhile, fret not, I'll be back in a few!

Peace out!


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: **I FEEL SO REFRESHED.

The holiday season was a damn nightmare as far as work goes, but it was also lots of fun outside of that. Spent a lot of time just hanging with friends and family. Oh and drinking. Lots of that haha.

But I am back at this! It was very refreshing to step back from this honestly and just let my mind wander. I've also taken up the task of being a beta reader for a friend's upcoming book and it's such a great read that it just reinvigorated my own writing bug!

That said, sorry for those of you who have sent me messages during this little interim of mine. I see them, the lot of them, and I will be getting back to you whenever this is posted!

RWBY news: We finally know Qrow's Semblance! It's also cool to see how unusual it is. So far, almost every Semblance we've seen has had a very pronounced and noticeable affect/ability. Qrow's is much more a sort of passive, always active ability. Kinda reminds me of the DC character Jinx and her bad luck magic kinda deal.

But that begs the question, what's up with the whole crow thing then? Is that part of his Semblance or just something else entirely? I mean, with the introduction of the Maidens and Magic as a power, it wouldn't be too far out there to have Animagus type people around.

Speaking of magic and the Maidens, fucking Ozpin man. So many questions and theories.

Then the whole bit about the two brothers? You know I already have plans for that and god it's gonna work so well!

Being as excited as I am, and having read how excited the lot of you are for this, let's just get to it!

Here it is! The finale of Vol. 2!

Roll it!

* * *

With a serious frown on her face, Ruby spun Crescent Rose around, the large blade cleaving through several Beowolf in one smooth rotation. Rolling with the momentum of the massive scythe, the young teen ducked under a claw swipe, the bladed end of Crescent Rose's pole piercing through the skull of a Creep Grimm while another of its brother's heads was blown to pieces by one of the sniper scythe's bullets.

Shifting her weight so that she and her weapon spun with each other, Ruby fired off a shot that sent her plowing feet first into the sternum of an approaching Ursa with enough force to collapse the bear like creature's ribcage. Using the Ursa's fading corpse as a springboard, the young captain launched herself into the air. Pouring her Aura into Crescent Rose and using the weight of the weapon to spin her, Ruby unleashed a circular red energy blade that tore a swath through the Grimm surrounding her.

Landing in a crouch, the silver-eyed teen allowed herself a quick breath of air before disappearing in a burst of rose petals, continuing to cut a bloody path through the invading Grimm.

Nearby, her older sister was also busy taking out Grimm by the handfuls.

Her eyes glowing their light crimson and her hair flowing like literal flames, Yang plowed her fist straight through the skull of a Beowolf. Her arm still lodged in the fading essence of the Grimm, the blonde brawler fired off a shot from Ember Celica. The several Grimm that had been behind their fallen brother were engulfed in a consuming storm of flames.

Ducking low, Yang narrowly dodged a paw swipe from a massive Ursa Major. Firing off a shot from her gauntlets, the blonde teen used the momentum to send her elbow plowing into the bear-like Grimm's abdomen. Quickly pivoting on her foot, the teen let a number of lightning fast jabs fly, each hitting with a shock of fire, causing the lumbering Grimm to cry out in pain as it's insides were pulverized.

Invading the still stunned Ursa's guard, Yang reared her fist back and unleashed a devastating uppercut that sent the creature into the air with a flash of fire.

Leaping into the air, a grin stretching across her face, Yang finished her combo off with a vicious haymaker. The now dead Grimm's body was sent rocketing into the street below with enough force to send rubble flying into other nearby Grimm, stunning them.

Letting out a war cry, Yang came falling back down to the earth in an explosion of flames.

Just like her partner and captain, Blake was just as easily cleaving a bloody path through the swarming Grimm.

The raven haired Faunus gave out a grunt as she used Gambol Shroud in its singular form to lop off the head of a young Beowolf. In a smooth flow of movement, Blake unsheathed the small blade of her weapon and brought up the "sheath" portion to hold back the claws of an attacking Beowolf. With a grunt of effort, the amber eyed Faunus used the smaller blade of Gambol Shroud to pierce through her attacker's skull.

Before she could even remove the blade, Blake was forced to use her Semblance to dodge a spinning ball of bone spikes. Now perched on the shoulders of the fading Beowolf, Blake proceeded to viciously tear her weapon from the corpse's skull and paused, waiting for her opening.

As the Boarbatusk came out of its death ball to reorient itself, Blake launched the half of Gambol Shroud attached to her elastic ribbon and lassoed the unsuspecting Grimm around the tusks. Pushing off her quickly fading platform, Blake pulled on her ribbon. Still not quite grasping its situation, the quadruped Grimm was pulled towards and over the teen.

The large blade/sheath of Gambol Shroud easily cleaved into the underbelly of the squealing Grimm.

Panting as exhaustion was quickly catching up to her, Blake gathered herself before brandishing Gambol Shroud.

Briefly, she allowed her eyes to scan the rest of the town square, seeing both Yang and Ruby doing their absolute best to cut down the number of Grimm. Catching a shock of white, Blake allowed herself to refocus on her own battle knowing her teammates could handle themselves.

And Weiss was proving that just as well as the sisters.

Stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground, massive crystals of ice rose from the ground around the heiress, skewering quite a number of Grimm.

Sprinting up one of her ice formations, Weiss leapt into the air, spun the barrel of her Dust powered rapier and let loose a volley of flames, an attack she had copied from a certain whiskered teen.

Like meteors, the Dust born orbs crashed to the earth and bathed the ground in a sea of flames, the conflagration "eating" several handfuls of Grimm.

Landing atop one of her ice spires with all the poise of a noblewoman, Weiss took a deep breath, feeling her already low reserves of Aura drop even lower after that combo. Seeing the almost unending sea of black and white continue to march forward, the Schnee heiress steeled herself.

Perfect time to field test some of the Runes she and Naruto had been working on.

* * *

Naruto frowned as his nose was assaulted by an all too familiar smell. The smell of blood. The smell of death.

The once calm streets of Vale had been filled with the stench of battle and he had to use all of his willpower to hold himself back from leaping out of the Bullhead right then and there knowing that they had to stop this at the source. That didn't stop him from sending out several dozen clones though, all of which were created with the sole purpose of ferrying any civilians to safety and eliminating the dark blight that had invaded his new home.

His worries were also somewhat assuaged as he saw several of Beacon's students, Professors, and vetted Huntsmen doing just the same. Hell he was sure he had even seen Cardin and his team taking down some of the invading force. Even more comforting though was the sight of several of the other Academy's students helping out as well.

Seeing the "source" of the Grimm attack coming up, Naruto nodded to his teammates.

"Let's show these Grimm why you don't mess with our home!" Naruto cried out.

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren readied their weapons and gave a shout of agreement.

Using chakra, Naruto climbed his way to the roof of the Bullhead, his hair whipping in the winds.

Pyrrha, using her own Semblance, joined her boyfriend atop the flying transport, Ren and Nora not too far behind.

With a feral grin, Naruto called out to Nora, "Meteor?"

Nora matched her captain's grin and brandished Magnhild, "Locked and loaded!"

Giving herself enough room for a running start, Naruto took up a spot at the head of the Bullhead.

As Nora began to sprint towards him, the blond captain summoned a clone that launched him into the air. Nora followed after her captain. At the apex of their flight, Naruto grabbed Nora's arm, spun, and launched the hammer wielder straight at the ground.

* * *

Back to back, the four girls of team RWBY tried their best to keep up a strong front, though each of them was definitely feeling the effects of having fought for almost two days straight with such little rest. Even still, they were damn ready to do their best to defend Vale.

"AHHHHHHH SMAAASH!"

Wide eyed, the four girls watched as a pink blur slammed into the ground not too far from them with enough force to cause a miniature earthquake.

"Ōdama Rasengan!" Came another battle cry from the air, this one accompanied by a blur of yellow and blue and an explosion that nearly knocked the girls off their feet.

Smiles of relief washed over the members of Team RWBY's faces as the rest of team NNPR appeared on the battlefield.

"Katon: Karyū Endan _(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb)_!" Naruto called out, unleashing a gargantuan dragon of flames upon the mass of Grimm, incinerating a huge chunk of them as well as taking care of one of the King Taijitu in one fell swoop.

The blond wasn't done there though, summoning up an army of Kage Bunshin, each clone wielding their own copy of Hi no Ishi. As one, the army of blue eyed teens met the Grimm head on.

Pyrrha was meanwhile a graceful storm of red death as she wielded her two weapons with all the skill she had trained for, mercilessly cutting down handfuls of Grimm with ease. Throwing Akoúo, the shield liberated many Grimm of their limbs and other body parts as it spun like a deadly buzz saw, continuing to wreak havoc as it was called back to its master.

Miló was likewise responsible for felling many Grimm, Pyrrha shifting the weapon to suit her needs as she cut, pierced, and shot through the horde of Grimm, her normally gentle and kind disposition replaced by the persona of the Invincible Girl.

Extending Miló in its spear form, the redhead skewered two Creep through the skull. Retracting the spear, Pyrrha cartwheeled out of the way of a Alpha's massive paw. Catching Akoúo midway through a spin dodge, she redirected the deadly shield at the attacking Alpha.

While the older Grimm was able to bat aside the shield, it left itself open, which Pyrrha was quick to capitalize on, stabbing the Alpha through the underside of its jaw with Miló's short sword form.

Moving like water, Pyrrha proceeded to tear her weapon out of the Alpha, take a knee, and unleash a volley of piercing Dust bullets into the incoming crowd of Grimm.

Nora was also making quick work of the Grimm, each swing of Magnhild crushing several at a time. Shifting the massive warhammer into its grenade launcher form, Nora grinned ferally as she unleashed several rounds into the horde of Grimm. Explosions of pink rocked the town square, taking out handfuls of the invading Grimm.

Ren was just as quickly disposing of the invading blight, showing that, while he wasn't as much of a front lines fighter as his teammates, he was just as easily capable of holding his own.

The twin pistols of Stormflower unleashed a hail of bullets upon a crowd of weaker and younger Grimm, the bullets easily piercing through the various Creep and Beowolves. Without missing a beat, the emerald clothed teen batted aside the paw of an Ursa that had tried to sneak up on him. Backflipping over the slightly stunned Grimm, Ren looped the twin blades of his pistols around the beast's neck before pushing off its back, Stormflower's blades cleanly slicing through the Ursa's neck and spine.

Team RWBY allowed themselves a breather as they watched their friends decimate the horde of Grimm, already having cut down the number of them by a third or more. Some of the smarter and older Grimm quickly realized they were now on the losing side and were trying to make their escape, their survival instinct taking precedence over anything else.

However more reinforcements arrived on the scene in the form of team CFVY and Professors Port and Panathenaia. The two Professors and the older team were just as easily able to cut through the plague of black and white and even managed to stop most of the Grimm from escaping further into the city.

What really got everyone's attention though the was the arrival of the Atlesian air fleet, the massive airships bringing with them a veritable army of the kingdom's newly unveiled Atlesian Knights.

Working together, the gathered forces of Atlas and Vale were able to quickly subdue the threat, Glynda arriving on the battlefield and using her Semblance to cover up the hole that had allowed the Grimm in acting as the final nail in the coffin.

* * *

"Well, that was...fun?" Yang allowed herself to collapse back onto the floor, her legs restlessly kicking back and forth as they hung over the edge of Beacon's airfield.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "An army of Grimm invaded downtown Vale, many people were harmed and killed, and most of the market district is nothing but rubble. Not exactly what I'd call fun."

"True, but thanks to the timely response of both active duty Huntsman and students from all four of the Academies, many more people were saved, the Grimm were eradicated, and the one's responsible for all of this were put behind bars. And while some buildings were destroyed, they can be rebuilt," Pyrrha replied.

While his teammates and friends continued to go over the events of the last few days, Naruto was having a very different conversation with his Bijū partner, _'I can't just sit back anymore Kurama! Innocent people were killed today, because we haven't handled her!'_

'_And many more will be murdered if we jump the gun dumbass!' _Kurama scolded. _'We have no idea how far this rabbit hole goes and if we just go in there guns blazing, we may force something we're not prepared to handle.'_

Naruto gave out a grunt, _'I can't just sit on my ass and do nothing while Cinder keeps moving whatever plan she has forward!'_

'_And I'm not saying to! But you have to realize that we can't handle this like we're still in our time and just confront her head on. It's not just us against them anymore, it's us against them and the Creatures of Grimm,' _Kurama was quick to remind his container of the unknown variable. _'The minute we start something with her, you can bet your ass that the Grimm will be quick to get in on the action and even with all of your clones, there's no way you'll be able to split yourself between protecting Vale from Cinder and the Grimm.'_

A low growl rumbled through Naruto's chest as he was forced to realize his furry partner was right, though he was still far too stubborn to just give up like that, _'You say that like it's just you and me. There's-'_

'_Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood. Outside of us, they are the only other one's who are truly ready to fight a war,' _Kurama interrupted. _'Your friends may be strong and I have no doubt that, one day, they will be ready, but that day is not today nor is it in a month. As it stands, they are still far too inexperienced too fight a war, let alone win one with enemies as ruthless as Grimm and Cinder's group. Cinder's two brats have spilled blood, and they will not be afraid to do so again. The same can not be said for your friends.'_

Naruto frowned and clenched his fists, stubbornly trying to think of a rebuttal of some kind.

But Kurama knew his Jinchūriki all too well, _'That's not even taking into account that we still have no idea what is going on with Kaguya. For all we know, she could be tracking us now and simply waiting for her chance to strike. If we know anything about her, it's that she has patience in spades. She waited for generations for her plan to free herself from the moon. I doubt she has any problems waiting a few more for us to slip.'_

Naruto was pulled from the mental conversation by Yang tapping on his head with her fist, "Alright, alright, cut it out would ya?"

"Sorry, the lights were on, but I was checking to see if anyone was home," Yang quipped.

Blake rolled her eyes, "Something wrong?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, just thinking about this mess of a day."

"I have to agree with Pyrrha though, I think we did pretty good today. Roman's locked up, the city is being rebuilt, and we managed to keep the the casualty count pretty low," Ruby chimed in with a hopeful smile.

Naruto offered a grin, "Yeah, I guess that's true. But we still got a tournament to prepare for!"

The four members of team RWBY groaned.

"Before that though, sleep," Yang cried.

While the girls of team RWBY celebrated, Pyrrha was busy gazing at her blond partner in curiosity, _'He's still worried about that Kaguya woman, isn't he? But he's trying not to worry us.' _The redhead looked at her hand pensively and clenched her fist, _'I..we have to get stronger.'_

Kurama spared a glance at his partner's significant other and was slightly surprised to see a fire ignite in her eyes. Not able to help it, the Kyūbi laughed to himself, _'I knew there was a reason I liked her. You and the brat really are perfect for each other! Kushina would definitely approve.'_

* * *

"Ozpin! What is the meaning of this!?"

The silver haired headmaster merely quirked a brow, "Forgive me councilor, but what do you mean?"

"The boy Ozpin! There are reports of identical copies of him saving countless citizens and helping to repel the Grimm," the voice of an irate councilor bellowed through the video chat.

"I fail to see how this is a bad thing," Ozpin queried.

Before the same shadowed councilor could reply, another one, this one far more collected, interrupted, "We will talk about the boy later. Right now, I believe the most pressing matter is the fact that a small army of Grimm invaded our city in broad daylight, injuring dozens and thankfully only killing few. How was this allowed to happen?"

Another of the shadowy figures cut in, "I agree. Had it not been for the timely response of our Huntsman, students from the other Kingdoms, and General Ironwood's forethought, the end result may have been much more grievous."

Ozpin took a sip from his ever present mug before replying, "Unfortunately I lack the ability to see into the future and was not able to fully prepare our Kingdom for today. However, I am thankful that my contingency plans were well placed."

"Contingency plans?" A stunned Ironwood asked, his shock mirrored audibly by Vale's councilmen.

"Yes, plans I had placed to prepare for the worst," the bespectacled headmaster replied. "One of which was young Naruto Uzumaki. I was more than aware of his ability to copy himself an innumerable amount of times. That, along with the experience and skill of his teammates, meant they would be a great boon to our forces here, which is why they were kept here at the school instead of being sent out like their fellow students."

"But-"

Ozpin continued, "Furthermore, the young women of team RWBY along with Dr. Oobleck were more than capable of acting as a scouting party and helping to stem the flow of the Grimm into the city, cushioning the blow as it were."

The stunned councilors took a moment to gather themselves, never having expected Ozpin to be so prepared, especially since the reports from Ironwood had led them to believe the exact opposite. They had made the video call with every intention of putting Beacon's Headmaster on the spot and even putting him in a bind he couldn't escape.

Now here they were, caught flat footed, and no way to regain their footing with any semblance of poise.

"Yes...well, it seems that you're forethought was well called for. It is good to know that our Kingdom and her citizens are in good hands."

Without a word more, the councilors ended the call on their end, leaving Beacon and Atlas' Headmasters alone.

"I'm...sorry I doubted you," Ironwood said, finally breaking the silence between the two.

Ozpin sighed, "You were only trying to do what you thought was right James and for that, I can't fault you."

The Atlesian general nodded, "Thank you. I'll leave you be, I have to talk with a certain someone."

Knowing exactly who his friend was talking about, Ozpin nodded, "Find out what you can James. There are still far too many things we don't know."

Ironwood nodded before ending the call.

Turning his chair to face the setting sun, Ozpin steepled his fingers in front of him, _'The first move has been made. What will you do now...Salem?'_

* * *

(**Omake #7: **The Afterlife of the Party)

"Oh! I'm so proud of you sochi! She's a keeper for sure -ttebane!" a woman with long light red hair that trailed to her knees cheered.

A man with a wild mane of golden spikes laughed at his wife's antics, "Guess he got more than just my hair and eyes."

"I can't wait to see the beautiful grand babies they'll give me!" the woman cheered again, her violet eyes sparkling at the thought of several babies with either blond or red hair and a mix of blue and emerald green eyes. Or maybe one of them would inherit her violet eyes!

"I still say that the neko girl would've been better for him, after all, the quiet ones are always the kinkiest!" A man with a with wild gray hair giggled perversely.

The older man was quickly shut down when the crimson haired woman slammed her fist into the top of his head, "You keep my son out of your dirty fantasies Ero-Sennin!"

The blond haired man chuckled nervously as he tried to calm his wife, "Calm down Kushi-chan. You know Jiraiya-sensei was only kidding, right?"

While he may be an unashamed and self-proclaimed Super Pervert, even he had some preservation instincts left, even in death, "Uh, yeah! Only kidding!"

Kushina huffed, but allowed herself to fall into the embrace of her husband, "I'll believe you this time."

Jiraiya, believing that he was in the clear, heaved a sigh of relief, only to receive a kick to the ass.

"Tch, idiot."

The old Toad Sage cried crocodile tears as he cradled his no doubt bruised behind, "Tsu-hime, why are you so cruel!?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Because someone has to keep your idiotic ass in line. But I agree with Kushina-chan, that Pyrrha girl will do good for the gaki. He needs someone just as strong willed as him to keep him in line."

The two women high-five'd.

An elderly voice chuckled, joining the group, "While Jiraiya's reasoning may be off, I have to agree that the young Faunus girl fit him just as well as Ms. Nikos, if not better."

Jiraiya, suddenly healed of all wounds, leapt to his feet and wrapped an arm around his sensei's shoulders, "I knew I wasn't the only one who saw it!"

While the older crowd went back and forth, arguing about the love life of a certain whiskered blond, said blond's former teammates and friends chatted amongst themselves.

"Man, what a drag. Even in the future that damn blond can't help but get into trouble," a young teen with a cigarette dangling from his lips drawled out.

"Really Shikamaru? We're dead and you're still complaining?" A blonde dressed in purple replied.

Giggling at the antics of her friends, a pink haired teen turned to her teammate, "Anything to add Sasuke-kun?"

The aforementioned raven haired teen grunted, "Hn. I'm just surprised the Dobe is even in a relationship. But, I guess he could've done better."

"Maa, maa, you wouldn't happen to be thinking of a certain white haired descendant of yours, would you?" A teasing voice cut in.

Sasuke grunted and turned away, not even bothering to answer the question, prompting his sensei and Sakura to laugh.

As the various cliques of Konoha shinobi chatted amongst themselves, a certain lavender eyed heiress fondly looked into the puddle of water that showed a whiskered teen smiling widely as he wrapped an arm around his redhaired partner who wore an equally bright smile.

"Hinata-sama? Are you...alright?" A concerned Neji Hyūga asked, knowing just how much his cousin had admired and loved the blond Uzumaki.

A gentle smile crossed her face as the Hyūga heiress glanced at her cousin, "I'm more than ok Neji-kun. I'm glad that Naruto-kun has found people who make him happy and someone to share his heart with. It's clear that Pyrrha cares just as much for him as he does her."

Hinata jumped when she suddenly found herself trapped in a tight hug courtesy of Kushina, "Oh! You would've been a wonderful step-daughter too Hinata-chan!"

Managing to free herself from the death grip, the pale eyed beauty blushed and twiddled her fingers, "Uh, thank you Kushina-sama."

Altogether, the group of Konoha's finest laughed at the Hyūga heiress' always apparent shyness.

* * *

**AN: **Bit of a short one, but I got all of what I wanted into this chapter. Plus I'm TRYING to get better at uploading more often.

Oh and before people bitch about "Ohh but that omake doesn't make sense. Wehh you're wrong. Minato and Sarutobi are in the Shinigami's stomach. Minge, minge, whine, bitch."

Yes, I am aware of the consequences of the Reaper Death Seal. Yes I know that since I didn't have the Fourth Shinobi World War go down like it did in canon, the two of them should still be in the Shinigami's stomach.

But whatever. I'm an adult, I DO WHAT I WANT.

Anyways, that's it guys, Vol. 2 is DONE. Know what that means? That's right, next up we got the Vytal Festival and oh do I have some ideas! One of which came from Agurra of the Darkness, so shoutout to him for that.

Well, gonna call it here for now. Gonna answer all those PM's and then get started on the next chapter.

Peace!


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